screensaver – Expressions of Interest LP Upset! The Rhythm (UK)

Expressions Of Interest is the debut album from Melbourne/Naarm post-punk group Screensaver. Sonically, the ten-track album is rich and detailed, and pays homage to its era of inspiration (late ’70s-mid ’80s post-punk and new wave) with gripping vocals, dissonant guitar, melodic basslines, washes of synths, and motorik drumming. Engineered by Julian Cue alongside band member Chris Stephenson and recorded over multiple studio sessions between 2020-2021. The album opens with the ominously titled “Body Parts”, an immediately arresting song that showcases the bands penchant for blending classic post-punk elements, leaning into a sound somewhere between the Banshees and Protomartyr. Krystal Maynard doubles down on these themes in the frenetic second track, “No Movement”. Guttural organ tones swim under overdriven guitar, jagged and intense. The album takes a surprising turn into electronic driven krautrock on track three with “Buy, Sell, Trade” — a rollicking piece of danceable ephemera, dominated by swirling synth sounds and punctuated with electronics reminiscent of Sparks/Moroder collaborations. “MEDS” transports you back to the foundation established on “Body Parts”, a goth-y piece, full of tribal toms and dirge-y synths. They explore touches of EDM on “Static State” — a brutal, death-disco style track, Maynard’s lead synth and gloomy vocal complimenting the pounding drums and dub-esque bass line. “Skin” begins with a solid and simple backbeat, James Beck’s post-punk percussion provides a steady and minimal framework for the rest of the band to color with great depth and detail. Giles Fielke’s bass guitar wobbles brilliantly leading the verse melody, whilst Stephenson’s guitar drives the chorus that folds neatly in on itself. In “Attention Economy”, Maynard is flexible with her lyrical style, and knows how and when to lend her voice to the greater backdrop of the composition. “Attention Economy” has an almost Kraftwerkian structure — repetitious, but engaging with its constant tom driven beat, lush synth lines and minimal bass tones. Just when you thought things had slowed down, Screensaver ramp things right back up again with “Overnight Low” — a no holds barred thumper. Fielke underpins the hard-edged sound with his bassline, keeping things smooth and tight. It brings to mind a hybrid of PiL’s “Annalisa” and Wire’s “Two People In a Room”. Before you can catch your breath, there’s “Regular Hours” — another industrial track, and perhaps the sister song to “Static State” heard earlier on side one. The album closes with the fittingly titled “Soft Landing”, literally bringing the listener back down softly. 180 gram black vinyl; edition of 300.