London’s Girls In Synthesis Perform Invigoratingly Dynamic Punk Rock On Debut LP

The U.K. punk group Girls In Synthesis sound marvelously invigorating on their debut album Now Here’s An Echo From Your Future, which is available now. The album combines a post-punk vibrancy with a ferocious punk rock vibe, and all of the rhythms across the record feel just off-kilter enough to make the listening experience feel strangely immersive. Sometimes, the music feels like dancing in the rain, and sometimes, it feels like raging on stage at a packed club somewhere just off the road during that big rainstorm, and invigoratingly forward energy ties the whole sprawling piece together.

It’s difficult to listen to Girls In Synthesis and not feel like moving. Besides the rich intricacy of the jams, the group has also captured lightning in a bottle, in a sense, with the music’s consistent gut-rattling shake that feels perfectly suited for a sweat-drenched, electric live show experience.

The pulsing drum rhythms that run through album opener “Arterial Movements” feel tense and set the tone for the album quite effectively. “The Images Agree,” for instance, runs on what feels like electric currents of energy delivered via the wavering basslines that snake through the song like lightning strikes. “Scrapped” (which immediately follows) opens with dynamics that feel a bit more inherently dramatic; the riffing feels like a sudden burst of water flowing over the top of some treacherous rapids. To build off the slightly grimy city vibe on the album, the song, with its energetic splashes of drum rhythm, feels a bit like volleys of rain suddenly falling in a cloudy cityscape like the one depicted on the album’s cover.

“Cause for Concern” is another especially dramatic-sounding tune on the record; the song packs a richly enlivening ruckus. Meanwhile, “Human Frailty” features a lot of restraint throughout its opening segments, and the methodically contemplative riffs seem drenched in feedback. “Set Up To Fail” is another slower jam, packed with simmering tension and pockmarked with a real kick from the fierce drum rhythm, which prominently repeats in the latter half of the song and gives the track a nicely krautrock-leaning vibe.

As a whole, Now Here’s An Echo From Your Future feels like a soundtrack for stumbling through a city in a haze. Raging in the (metaphorical) rain, as captured on the richly expressive record, feels strangely edifying and legitimately cathartic.

5/5 Stars

Listen to Now Here’s An Echo From Your Future in full below: