With the weight bestowed upon us twelve months ago gradually lifting and life feeling a little lighter comes ‘De facto’, the third offering from infinitely cool Melbourne trio, HighSchool, out on Dalliance Recordings.
Despite lamenting lovers lost, it will shift you out of your seat and stagnant mind frame. The first minute alone emanates such a captivating sense of bad-lad, debauched energy that it begs the question as to whether we’ve heard a better opener to a track so far this year? Coupled with an equally engrossing video that sticks with that ‘long-lost-camcorder-footage-from-the-nineties’ feel seen in previous track ‘New York, Paris and London’; only this time it’s as though the Lisbon sisters from ‘The Virgin Suicides’ slipped off to a rave with their secret lovers, dropped into church en route, and someone was there to document their escapades. The video is a trip, a cocktail of ethereal and mystic imagery spliced unforgettably with flashing scenes of indulgence and ritualistic choreo.
Lyrically ‘De facto’ dulls the shine of love and the band say it was written “…to shed a mortal light on love. It presents relationships as being temporary and expected.” Sonically it’s driven by unforgiving, spirited drums but what really hits home is the emotion-charged ardent guitar that’s heady and prominent. The quicker pace forging a likeness to bands like New Order and LCD Soundsystem.
As they finish off their anticipated debut EP, we can but patiently wait as HighSchool are ones to watch this year. For those with a taste for melancholic post-punk, they’re more than palatable.
The Scoop: Melbourne’s HighSchool – A Masterwork of Melancholic Pop and Post-Punk Grit Read Here.
Photo by Hector Clark
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