‘Caught in the rain with a stranger, Wash away the scent, I must repent for things I’ve left untold, Face to face with the devil’s smile’ (Turn Away)

Shards of jangle cut through shimmering waves of melody.  The chunky bass lines and muscular drums lock in with a resolute mid-paced precision.  The darkly enunciated vocals are shrouded in a gothic introspection, the restrained drama of the swelling choruses taking you almost by surprise.

The debut album from New Jersey’s Demmers, and follow-up to last year’s split 7-inch with True Faith, is unabashed in drawing it’s influences from early 1980s’ English post-punk.  Think perhaps of taking The Cure’s Faith and Pornography, with a dash of New Order’s Movement, as a starting point.  And they are just a starting point as, while duly paying respects to their inspirations, Demmers also animate them with their own very distinctive energy.

There is a notable sense of space to the song writing, this deliberate sparseness affording room for each element to breathe and unfurl.  This combines powerfully with the understated heft to their playing, one that anchors the more vulnerable expressions and speaks eloquently to the band’s shared hardcore pedigree.  An atmosphere rich in regret, confusion, and a tentative hope emerges as they sweep from the forlorn flamboyance of Love Me Again to the infectiously brooding Turn Away and then the mournfully swirling Among The Thorns.