If you’re feeling the effects of the extra six weeks of winter we’re having right now, A Place to Bury Strangers have just the thing to shake you out of your winter doldrums. It’s their new album, Pinned, which is already high on my list for potential album of the year. It’s an album about impermanence, fear of the unknown, the insidious presence of technology (a frequent theme in APTBS’ work), and breaking free of self-imposed constraints and outside influences.
Starting off with a groovy bass riff from Dion Lunadon and a toe-tapping kick drum beat from new drummer and backing vocalist Lia Braswell, “Never Coming Back” builds a tight tension as lead singer and guitarist Oliver Ackermann seems to sing from a shadowy corner while his guitar creeps around the room. The song eventually breaks the near-unbearable tension around the three-minute mark with wails and squalls that only APTBS seem to generate. The song is about how decisions big and small can alter one’s life forever, and how easy it is to become trapped in indecision instead of embracing uncertainty.
“Execution” reveals APTBS’ love of krautrock with Lunadon’s bass line and Ackermann’s slightly robotic vocals. Braswell’s vocals match Ackermann’s on “There’s Only One of Us,” a post-punk song about unity in these weird times. “Situations Changes” has a shoegaze simmer that eventually reaches a noise rock rolling boil as Ackermann sings about loneliness (The first lyric is “You don’t care about me.”) and having to accept the fact that the situation between him and his lover has changed and returning to the past is impossible. The present is all that exists and change is the only constant.
The addition of Lia Braswell on drums has been a great one for APTBS. She’s a powerful drummer that matches well with Ackermann and Lunadon, but the addition of her vocals has taken the band to a new, unexpected level. A great example of both of these points is on “Too Tough to Kill.” Her drumming is like rapid gunfire, and her vocals elevate the track to psychedelic highs. There’s just as good, almost Shirley Manson-like, on “Frustrated Operator.”
“Look Me in the Eye” is a fast song about trust that mixes electronic beats with heaps of guitar fuzz. Countering it is “Was It Electric,” which keeps the vocals slightly distorted, but the rest of the track strolls through a foggy shoegaze park on an early autumn day.
“I know I’ve done bad things, and I can’t take them back,” Ackermann sings on “I Know I’ve Done Bad Things.” It’s another reference to how easy it is to get trapped in the past and mired in loneliness. Even his guitar sounds distant throughout the track (despite the distortion), and Braswell’s drums sound like a thudding pulse in your neck. The speed picks up on “Act Your Age” (which clocks under two minutes), and I can’t help but wonder if the title is a referendum on internet blustering and the current political climate. Pinned is the band’s first album since the 2016 election, after all.
I love the way APTBS loops Braswell’s wail / moan on “Attitude,” which has a sharp, almost snotty punk vibe throughout it. I also love the addition of electronic beats again atop Braswell’s acoustic ones on the closing track, “Keep Moving On.” The title is apt for the band and the album. APTBS always seeks to reinvent itself and not get pigeonholed. Their music always brings you back to the moment. It is too urgent to do otherwise. They keep moving forward, as should all of us. We can’t afford to be pinned down by regret, loss, or attachments. Pinned is a great reminder of this. It’s my album of the year so far.
Keep your mind open.
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