Luxury Apartments – Luxury Apartments

Sunday, June 2, 2024 | Records | Art Punk, Garage Punk, Post Punk

Now that's an impressive debut LP by this London group, who've apparently been around for many years already but took until now to come up with a full length record. Right out of the gate, the opening tracks has some vibe á la early Saccharine Trust with a touch of Flipper. Outsude Looking In kinds plays out like a forgotten Wire track colliding with the likes of Volcano Suns, Mission af Burma in addition to more recent stuff by Institute, Peace de Résistance. Animals Eat For Free then starts out loosely resembling eighties The Fall before taking a quite melodic turn in the chorus. And so it goes on, this eclectic and testeful war chest of ideas and influences, among which you might also consider X (AUS), Membranes, Cravats, Fungus Brains, early, pre-dub-influence Swell Maps and many more old DIY (post-)punk greats, just as much as contemporary groups like Shark Toys, The Cowboy, Society, earlier Sleepies, weirdo frenchies Subtle Turnhips, other London groups like 2010s garage powerhouse Sauna Youth - of whom i'm reminded mostly in the more straightforward second half of this record - or maybe Tense Men, whose swan-song album, released post-breakup in 2018, bears some striking similarities to this thing. There's absolutely no room for boredom inbetween these endless flashes of unhinged inspiration and creativity.