Night Motor – Fatal CD (Death Drop Records)

It’s been a while since I introduced a post-punk band like this on these pages, so I am happy to present Night Motor to all of you. Night Motor is an outstanding English post-punk quintet that emanates from Cornwall. Since their inception, the group released series of singles such as Matera, Twitchin’, Strychnine, Take The Acid, and Bleeding Heart EP. After nearly five years, Night Motor are coming back with their debut full-length material called Fatal. Besides being their debut, Fatal also represents their most advanced material, so it seems the group spent the time wisely planning each segment of their latest material. Judging by the compositions included within this recording, Fatal will unquestionably suit both admirers of modern and retro post-punk sound.

Fatal carries thirteen brilliant post-punk numbers, decorated by clever ideas, marvelous song structures, and thoughtful arrangements. Nevertheless, the sound of Night Motor carries some other elements that are enhancing the listening experience. You may stumble upon noise rock, goth rock, punk rock, alternative rock, industrial, and sometimes their presence dominates over the primary post-punk direction. However, Night Motor are handling all these ingredients like a pros, so their music appears as a harmonious slab of perfectly executed noise. The group continuously levitates between reverby post-punk melodies and abrasive noise rock articulations, while other elements are attached to the mix here and there. The generous dosage of reverb effect liberates pleasant echoic goth rock ambiance, but the group also involves straightforward punk rock aesthetics in their compositions while the elements of industrial are coming as more than necessary accentuations.

One of Night Motor’s best features is undoubtfully their diverse repertoire on this album. Each composition unveils slightly different aesthetics, but at some points, the entire material acts as a unified collection of post-punk tunes. At some moments, you may hear the similarities with Killing Joke, Gang Of Four, Joy Division, Bauhaus, NoMeansNo, Jello Biafra And The Guantanamo School Of Medicine, and other similar post-punk and punk rock groups. Nevertheless, Night Motor are keeping their sound fresh and unique as much as possible. You’ll instantly fall in love with their version of post-punk music, which undoubtfully differs from what we all used to listen to before. Fatal comes on a compact disc, housed in eye-peeling digipack packaging. Their visual identity is equally good as their music, so you’ll enjoy it both visually and sonically. Head over to their Bandcamp page and pre-order Fatal. The official release date is June 7th, so keep your eyes peeled on this one.