Rising up from student basement parties in Leeds – the kind of basements rigged to shit with landlord-defying subwoofers and blaring lights, and where they’d also rehearse, write and revel – Leeds newcomers Bathing Suits are thumping out an uncompromising collision of screeching noise-rock and ribcage rattling techno, deliciously served with all the glossy trimmings of late 00s pop.
Described by vocalist/drum machine operator Freyja Blevins as “an energetic, noisy song about being downright nasty and weird”, thrilling new single ‘I Can Be A Freak’ is a song of extremes. Guitars are freakish, wired and rancorous. Bass stabs land like socks to the jaw. The vocal rings out with a fantastically alluring depravity, and the kick drum could demolish high-rise blocks in place of dynamite. All in all, it’s sort of like if you extracted industrial cataclysm of Gilla Band, queue-jumped it into the Berghain, let it simmer for three days in its own ecstatic rave-juices, and watched it stagger back out into the dawn, neurally damaged, but irrevocably enlightened.
While the fusion of techno and noise-rock has seen many a fine exponent in recent years – think Model/Actriz or Void-era SCALER to name but two – Bathing Suits are promising a whole new dedication to the club, and to the humble guitar.
Photo by Matt Auger
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