Attrition – The Black Maria Album Launch – The Arches Venue Coventry – 29th of March 2024
Coventry’s Darkwave pioneers Attrition have just released their long awaited new album and are launching it at a series of gigs, Fighting Boredom’s Martin and Adrian headed down to the hometown gig at the Arches venue, under the brick railway bridge in Coventry to catch them, read what we thought below.
There are two people at the back half hidden behind synths and electronics. At the font of the stage is Julia looking like a Pagan Goddess and Martin looking like a Goth God, he will tell me off for that. But if you wear a rich purple velvet shirt and black everything else, have bleached hair and sing alongside a handful of incense sticks you are asking for it. For the record, he looks brilliant, every inch a star and he commands the eye like a master. But then he has been doing this for decades.
The synths rise up, samples appear and then Julia starts singing and Attrition are back again. Martin leans out over the audience holding the mic stand and the assorted Goths, weirdos and music aficionados lean in towards him. He picks up his electronic woodwind device and adds to the droning synths, horror soundtrack piano sneaks into the mix and the music has the feel of a Demon dying, slowly. This is a good thing.
Julia sings operatically and Martin echoes it in his low, whispering growl. The music has beats but hey are subtle behind the wash of dark synths. This is a night of great big analogue electronic sound. It feels alive as it wraps itself around you.
Harder beats echo out now as an Ice Cream Van’s chimes splinter and fall from the stage. The sound is perfect and the two vocalists are giving their all, Martin stepping to the side to manipulate his synth as Juila and the samples take centre stage.
The sound turns dense and like a room awash with petrol fumes, ready to ignite at the smallest spark. There are multiple layers of sound piled up on top of each other and the harmonies and separate vocals make it even heavier.
Exotic and slithering synth throbs take over the room as the beats morph into great big drum and bass skittering, the vocals fight to keep on top of the sound and the throbbing just carries on underneath and samples break through now too. There’s more drum and bass and Julia’s vocal now dominates even Martin’s growl.
It’s a set born of forty odd years out on the edge and the celebration of new music, it’s brilliant.
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Attrition
Attrition’s website is attrition.co.uk, they are on Bandcamp, Facebook and X as @attritionuk
All words by Adrian Bloxham, all pictures by Martin Ward
