Album Review: Asylums - ‘Genetic Cabaret’
‘Genetic Cabaret’, the latest release from Asylums, is a charged alt-rock experience that observes modern society and rallies against it.
Asylums’ new album ‘Genetic Cabaret’ observes the bleak nature of the modern world through its pointed lyrics. In holding up a mirror to the cracks in society it becomes a call to arms for anyone who feels disenchanted. Released through their own label, Cool Things Records, the album paints a cutting, but honest picture and the unrestrained dynamics promise to be an experience when performed live.
As you go from track to track, boundaries of genres are tested and pushed beyond limits. They find words to articulate the sense of uncertainty that coincidences with the upheaval that is taking place on all political, social and personal levels. “Watch the clock ticking backwards, there’s a sun that never comes out,” Luke Branch sings on the single ‘A Perfect Life in a Perfect World’, which summarises the message of the record that something needs to change.
Much of the album is brewing with a sense of urgency. There’s the punk-edged single ‘Platitudes’ that is teemed with a reeling riff and relentless drums and ‘Clean Money’, a confrontational track that is charged with a sharp and inciting electricity. As well as ‘The Distance Between Left & Right’ where the pulse of the song creates the sense of racing towards something.
The urgency is balanced with a range of softer tracks that punctuate the album, like taking a deep breath. These include, ‘A Town Full Of Boarded Up Windows’, which is a stripped back portrait of society’s grey landscape and ‘The Miracle Age’ that begins with a subdued backing and steadily climbs with spirited optimism. Finally, the concluding track of the album, ‘Dull Days’ spotlights the vulnerable vocal and creates a calming sense of relief.
Luke Branch says: “I examined political history, human biology, generational divides and emerging technology in equal measure. The resulting album feels leaner musically, harder-edged and with anger and empathy in equal measure."
Words by Holly Peters