Digital Leather - Warm Brother

Opening up with a field-recording of wounded analogue synths weeping in deep space before segueing into a dirge about self-destruction on an island of pain is a pretty cool way to assert your miserabilist credentials. It also sets up a useful black ground against which Shawn Foree (aka Digital Leather) goes on to deploy some pretty sweet synth-pop moves. Foree is managed by Jay Reatard and his influence looms large on tracks like Bugs on Glue, with its familiar machine-gun vocals and wall-of-sound riffing. Beats are mostly unobtrusive 4/4 drum machine fare, with Foree adding layers of texture and fuzz using his arsenal of gnarly vintage synths. It's all broken up with some icy, ironic Gary Numan-esque knob-twiddling and the occasional guitar but behind the dense, noisy production the arrangements are pretty unadventurous. Foree's characterful voice does however manage to transcend the simplicity of the songs on this deceptively accessible album. [Mark Shukla]