Kill Your Boyfriend – Voodoo EP (Various Labels)

It’s been a while since we had something like this on our website. For some reason, post-punk and goth rock artists and bands avoided our website with their latest releases this year, but at least we received this treat last week for review. As long as I am informed, Kill Your Boyfriend is an Italian post-punk duo coming for Treviso and Voodoo is their latest EP. However, it is not their only recording. Quite the contrary, Kill Your Boyfriend released a debut self-titled EP, a single called Chester, a debut self-titled album, a split release with New Candys, a Silent Panda/Deadly Panda remix of I S A A C, The King Is Dead LP, Ghosts EP, Elizabeth 7″, and Killadelica LP. As you can see, Kill Your Boyfriend keep their activities as prolific as possible, and everything I heard from these guys sounds good.

Voodoo carries six catchy post-punk songs suitable for those searching for a slightly noisier sound. At least, this material leans much more toward that spectrum. The only problem I have with this material is the proper format. I think this style is more suitable for vinyl, so if you intend to purchase this EP, aim for a vinyl version. Of course, it’s just my opinion and these songs sound good on CD too. Soundwise, Kill Your Boyfriend perhaps explore the vast universe built upon fundamentals of post-punk, but that’s not the only genre lurking around. These guys incorporated some of the finest properties of shoegaze, goth rock, darkwave, coldwave, electro, noise, and psychedelic music. Therefore, you’ll find many details roaming their compositions, and unlike many contemporaries out there, they uplifted post-punk sound to an entirely new level.

I adore how Kill Your Boyfriend incorporated a healthy dosage of rawness, abrasiveness, and dirtiness over the moderately polished ambiance. These qualities somehow work together in harmony without spoiling each other at all. Because of it, you’ll notice a lot of similarities with late seventies goth rock music, but somehow, Voodoo levitates much more towards contemporary post-punk/goth rock sound. There are layers of various orchestrations piled in every song, but the rhythm section plays a significant part alongside lead vocals. You’ll immediately notice semi-distorted basslines pervading from all possible sides while the energetic drumming keeps up the pace and shapes up the dynamics of each number. Of course, they also included some ambiances, drones, and leads achieved by granular and regular synthesis, keys, and effects. There are even segments of the songs where the microphony and noise shape the ambiance. I find their decision to do that a wise move that unquestionably breaks the regular post-punk routine.

Check out Voodoo EP if you’re into dirty, energetic, unique post-punk sound. It is available on yellow vinyl, CD, and streaming services, so head to Sister 9 Recordings (UK), Little Cloud Records (USA), and Shyrec (Italy) for more information about ordering.