Sometimes change is a good thing and sometimes it isn't. I wasn't looking for Nnevteiga to make any major modifications to their sound after last year's stunning debut simply because there seemed so much more plundering of that wonderful sound to be done, and these guys were obviously the best people to do it.
I needn't have worried. New Codes of the Unfun pretty much picks up where last year's self-titled masterpiece left off, weaving further layers of damaged intensity into a beautifully abrasive noise that stands apart from and above pretty much all the other beautifully abrasive noises in my life at the moment. It's like the soundtrack to an emotional holocaust, covering a ravaged landscape from the warped sludge of 'Forest Fuck', its brooding instrumentation punctuated by howling vocal interjections, through the stuttering tremor of 'Merrick' and right out the other side where the sub-gothic wailing of the title track batters you into a submission you'd admitted well before it arrived.
The longest track on the album, 'Cold You And I', stands as one of the musical high points of 2014 so far, somehow absorbing pretty much all of the above elements into a four minute frenzy you could happily set before anyone who wanted to know what makes this band so damn special. I'm playing the track in my April show on Dandelion Radio, which continues streaming until the end of the month. There'll be something else from the album in my May show.
In the meantime, get the album here or e-mail the Tendresse label for a cassette copy: tendresserecord@gmail.com. Just four euros plus shipping for an album that'll keep you company for the rest of the year and well beyond that.
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