The Antlered Man - Surrounded By White Men (Single)
Friday, 15 April 2011
Written by Ben Bland
“He wrapped them up in white skin, and said it was for their benefit”
It’s a pretty safe bet to say that Antlered Man are not going for mass populist appeal with their debut single. First things first, they called it 'Surrounded by White Men'. As debut single titles go this is a pretty brave one, I wouldn’t expect to hear it on pre-10pm Radio 1 any time soon. It’s the sort of song name that ex-Mclusky, now Future of the Left, man Andrew Falkous would be proud of (and he came up with 'Lightsaber Cocksucking Blues' and 'Adeadenemyalwayssmellsgood' so has pretty high standards). Not that you can judge the quality of a single release on name alone but for fans of sarcy noise rock bands it can only be a good sign.
Thankfully the actual song more than backs up the preposterously brilliant title, it’s gloriously fuzzy and sounds as likely to be the work of four slightly insane carpet salesmen as anyone else in particular. When the whispering vocals first join the thumping drums and pounding bass this band has already conjured a sound that does a great job of not really sounding particularly like anyone else, which is a rare feat for a band just starting out in this day and age.
By the time the nagging guitar riff has joined in things are already sounding somewhat apocalyptic but, of course, this is the apocalypse as Steve Albini would have it sound so things are all a bit haywire and you can’t hear the vocals very clearly because that amazing bass line is too busy trying to physically assault you in an inappropriate place. I’m not going to pretend to have a bloody clue what the lyrics are about half the time but the bits I can make out are powerfully dry, seemingly referencing institutional racism. The beauty of the song is that clearly, underneath the slight air of pisstake that dominates the (lack of) image and amusing song title, Antlered Man are clearly a band who have some points to make and if this is just the starting point then I cannot wait to hear how good their future exploits are going to sound.
Stereoboard single rating – 8/10
“Surrounded by White Men” is out on April 18th on Something Nothing Records.
Antlered Man play London’s Electrowerkz on April 21st.
A free download of Antlered Man’s “Platoono of Uno” is available now from their website www.antleredman.co.uk
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