Liiek - Deep Pore LP

 

If you've been around this page before you should know that Liiek is a regular here and needs no introduction. However, and if for some unforgivable reason you still ignore who Liiek are, you can discreetly catch up, and avoid carrying the heavy burden of a shame that will stain your descendants for centuries to come, by reading my enthusiastic posts about their first LP and their follow-up 7", two absolutely essential modern post-punk records.

 

Yes I really love Liiek and you can guess how excited I was when I heard that a new LP should be out before Christmas. I immediately pre-ordered the vinyl on the Adagio830 page, made sure to keep a "slot" in my year's end top (the one you can check out here), certain to be absolutely delighted by the Berlin trio's new release. Unfortunately, and as I'm sure you're already aware, the vinyl production industry has been under pressure for months due to a global lack of raw material, delays in the material shipping process and a very high demand (everybody wants to have their shitty band's songs on wax these days, you and me included), which has had the sad consequence of postponing many vinyl releases dates, Liiek's LP included. Deep Pore digital version was made available on time though, but the vinyl version won't ship before mid January (depending on the pressing plant and god's will), which is a a bit frustrating but not the end of the world either, right ? (ask those who ordered the Dischord 7" boxset how they feel about the delays and you might get a less relaxed answer).

 

All this to say that, in the end, I decided to not include Deep Pore in my 2021 Best Records list and to take my time to write a proper review (the one you're reading now) of the full LP even if I still have the vinyl spinning on my turntable yet.

 

 

  Indeed I feel that Deep Pore deserves to be listened to several times before any diligent individual is able to give a valid opinion about its eleven tracks... not that the record is utterly dense, weird or hard to get into but I wanted to feel like I had gone deep enough into Liiek's world to be able to bring back something real enough to be put into words that would not sound as hollow as all the trite clichés dispatched in a few tweets by the critics of a consumer pop culture (yes I can be quite haughty and arrogant sometimes too).

 

Lieek's previous records expressed some kind of youthful enthusiasm in their bass-driven songs fuelled by jerky guitar jabs, and that enthusiasm is undoubtedly still here but feels more mannered, more controlled, slightly colder and more disillusioned also. Don't get me wrong, the Berlin band is still full of an energy which takes more on the "most punk" side of the British post-punk "wave" than on the "airy" bands of the Factory. Skilfully mixing the early days of Gang Of Four, the martial side of Warsaw and the harshness of Crisis, Liiek delivers a mature kind of post-punk that may not immediately appeal to the 20 year old punk on amphetamine looking for thrills but deserves to be known and therefore explored and tamed.

  

 

As often, everything starts with the drums... always steady, they build two kinds of atmospheres inextricably linked to the very close relationship with the bass. In the first one the drummer hammers out a steady, sharp beat that the bass can build upon to create a bewitching, but never overwhelming, melody, the 4-string sound never drooling in the very low frequencies or embracing any kind of dirty effects. In the second type of atmosphere Liiek prove that they understood how bands like Gang Of Four or A Certain Ratio introduced funk bass lines in English post-punk, not that the Berlin band pushes the idea that far but rather keeps it closer to upbeat rhythms reminiscent of early Wire. 

Once the foundations are built, the guitar can come and chop up a heady rhythm or paint a pleasant, but never joyful, melody depending on the atmosphere, the whole thing being to remain always jerky, always halting, the energy coming from the inextricable rhythmic association of these three instruments with very distinct frequencies, each one clearly occupying its own space, the guitar and the bass taking turns to give the essential amount of melody to the whole...

But let's not forget the central role played by the vocals which surprisingly manage to be always powerful, almost "chanted", while always keeping a certain coldness, a certain "blasé detachment" which corresponds so well to the kind of powerful but refined post-punk that Liiek masters perfectly.

 

But let's shorten the musical analysis a little bit, you should have got it by now, Liiek delivers a great album made of songs whose diversity (there is even a discreet reference to Jello Biafra reference in the vocals of Take On A Dramatic Scale) doesn't take anything away from an general atmosphere that I would describe as "driving", I would even say catchy at times, but never dancing or "joyful", served by the sound mastery of what could be called "almost groovy" post-punk. Once again recorded and mixed by T-Rex who, with this album, continues to consolidate himself as a pillar of the sound of the Berlin ADK scene.

Listen to Liiek... please...

N,J'Oi!

 

 

 

 

  You can listen to Liiek on RAF#29.

  

 

   

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