Say Psych: Album Review: Girls In Synthesis – The Rest Is Distraction

Experimental post-punk outfit Girls In Synthesis recently released their eagerly anticipated follow-up to 2020’s incendiary debut, Now Here’s An Echo From Your Future. The Rest Is Distraction is out now via the band’s own label Own It Records.

Formed in 2016, the trio released a double a-sided debut single ‘The Mound’/’Disappear’ in the early part of 2017, and since then they have established themselves as the most forward thinking, viscerally challenging band around with unmissable live shows that continue to excite and astound in equal measure.

Recorded last year amidst the uncertainty of continuous lockdowns as a result of the global Covid-19 pandemic, The Rest Is Distraction is far darker in content than its predecessor. Mainly exploring internal and mental struggles as opposed to external current affairs, it focuses on the claustrophobia of emotional anguish and continues to bravely delve into previously unventured topics. Featuring frequent collaborators funkcutter and Stanley Bad on horns and violin, respectively, two songs also see Eleni Poulou, ex-The Fall, on keyboards.

The album takes its cues from ‘Join Hands’ era Siouxsie & The Banshees, Brainiac and Crass’ ‘Christ The Album’, among others. From the first crackle of electricity on the opening track, to the heart wrenching taped voice-recording on the final outro, this LP triumphantly retains every ounce of intensity and vitality that makes GiS one of the most captivating bands to emerge from the UK DIY underground.

Talking about the album, John Linger (surely one of the most prolific songwriters of his contemporaries); states “I’m glad lockdown gave us the time to start this album properly, it means that we’ve come out of the mist with an exciting, fresh album that represents where we are right now. It felt like we were harnessing darker moments in our personal lives and putting it into the music”.

In The Rest is Distraction Girls In Synthesis have raised the bar on everything, in every way. The complexity, the intensity, the intent and the volume all stand far removed from their roots yet be unmistakably them. Not many bands develop so markedly. There will be those who don’t get it, and that’s good, because for those who do, it’s as close to perfection in recorded format as you’re likely to get.

Opening ‘It’s All Beginning To Change’ marks this offering out as different from its predecessors, added to the intensity we have come to love them for, there is an urgency, a need to insist; it creeps like a creature in the night, biding its time before grabbing with both hand in ‘Watch With Mother’. Based around flashback memories of the narrator interpreting a dark parental relationship and the way in which family dynamics have shaped their outlook, things don’t get much bleaker, the disorientating electronics confuse the listener and find a way to hook deep into your consciousness. ‘Total Control’ doesn’t let up for an instant and contains a theme that will speak to any listener; choose your own variation and apply.

‘Swallowed Pill’ is an aural assault destined to confuse, it takes a few listens to work out what’s going on and probably more than any track on the LP captures the essence of their live performances. ‘Screaming’ is paradoxical, with its almost carnival-esq back guitar riff, and a finitely controlled dose of mayhem over the top. Not many bands could pull this off without it being dismissed as madness, GiS can, and do. ‘My Husband’ deals with a physically violent relationship between husband and wife, is an internal dialogue from the victim’s perspective, projecting the fear and mental anguish in such situations. It’s a stripped-down number, reminiscent of four-to-the-floor disco noir which in itself amplifies the tension as the tale unfolds. ‘Cottage Industry’ tackles more challenging themes, buried in layers of distortion and syncopated drumming and ends in spoken word angst.

‘Not As I Do’ feels less intense, but only because the sound is less full than other tracks, creating its own atmosphere and weight within the in between. Lingers explains “the first album was all about capturing the energy of the live shows, whereas writing and recording this one felt like some form of cathartic release. There’s more space in some of the tracks, we’ve learned that stripping stuff out of the music creates the right type of atmosphere for the songs. It’s even more intense than just blasting noise”. ‘Lacking Bite’ screams to the teenager in everyone, and the adult in many whilst ‘Your Prayers Have Changed’ plays heavily on repetition to create a marching effect that will see you finger drumming for hours. Closing out is ‘To A Fault’, a stripped back and intense number that deals with child sexual abuse and is made up of haunting bass and vocals until all is unleashed at the end of the song. The finale sees the band crashing in full alongside an internal monologue on the permanent emotional damage done to the victim. Not for the faint hearted.

In The Rest is Distraction Girls In Synthesis have raised the bar on everything, in every way. The complexity, the intensity, the intent and the volume all stand far removed from their roots yet be unmistakably them. Not many bands develop so markedly. There will be those who don’t get it, and that’s good, because for those who do, it’s as close to perfection in recorded format as you’re likely to get.

Order album or buy tickets to upcoming shows here