Listening to Bathing Suits always inspires movement. Their sound, a particularly delirious brand of industrial dance punk, activates something at the bottom of the spine, electrifying neurons and galvanising dopamine receptors, prompting a schizo-affected contorted writhing that looks and feels something like dancing. And their new single ‘Do Ya’ is yet another seemingly chemically enhanced banger in what is currently an unimpeachable run of form from the Leeds outfit.
If you haven’t seen them live yet you’re missing more than just a physical movement. Their live shows are quasi-religious experiences that demand the audience respond with the same brutal intensity as the performer. Garnering a cult following in the Leeds underground, Bathing Suits have recently exploded across the international gig circuit as perhaps the UK’s most exhilarating live act.
‘Do Ya’ has accomplished an astonishingly elusive feat: capturing the spectacular fervour of their live energy on record. Whirring mechanical guitars and searing bass tones are anchored by the repetitive clanging of the drum machine, all while vocalist Freyja Blevins pours over the top, sultry and elusive, ruminating on desire. In her own words, “Chaos is all fun but I want to find something I can control and use underneath it so it can’t swallow me or swallow the dance floor.”
The track pulses and beats with an essential rhythm as Blevins stands imperious and immovable above the industrial chaos of the track. It rises toward a cacophonic crescendo but never quite spins out beyond comprehension. It may be reaching to call a track as sprawling as this ‘balanced’, but the steady interlocking of its harmonic and dissonant elements keeps the track coherent while teetering on the knife edge of eclectic noise and infectious dance.
Photo by Cecila Croft
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