PYRAMIDS
S/T
(Hydra Head)

FARFLUNG
A Wound in Eternity
(MeteorCity)

GOZU
S/T
(Self-Released)

LITMUS
Planetfall
(Rise Above)

ANOTHER KIND OF
DEATH
Sleepless Every Night
(Underhill)

EAK/CRUSHING SUN
Bipolar 

(Major Label Industries)

TETSUO
David Keenan is My Dick 

(At War With False Noise)

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I would like to start this review with an apology to Pete, the PR person in charge of handling this release. It took me way too long to get to it.  And more importantly, now that I’ve had a chance to check it out five times front to back, I realize it was my loss. Totally. I wasn’t really sure why Pete kept on going about it, you see. Judging by the name of the band I wasn’t sure Gender would fit within the range that I like Deaf Sparrow to cover. And I had disregarded the press clip that came with the CD as mere hype. That’s what the stuff usually is anyway; always bloated, inaccurate quotes, descriptions that are meant to impress what usually ends up being deflated music in the face of expectations.

Then it also took me a while to find the record. I have them all promos in piles inside a trunk and it is a little hard to keep them organized. Plus, with the name Entertainment featured in a much smaller font than the album’s name, Gender, and the cover artwork looking way more obscure than I had expected I ended up shuffling right by it a few times before finally locating it.

But this is it. Pete, you rule. This record is excellent. Flawless. Dark. Truculent. Caustic. This is post punk of the highest order. With a couple of spoonfuls of gothic coloring, Gender rocks like I haven’t heard a record in over two years. And we ain’t talking heavy music here.  I’ve been on a Joy Division kick for like the last two and a half years, so that helps. I guess it prepared me for material of this type. It’s all in its place; from the bare, yet charged, yet fully organic sound, to the monochromatic artwork, to the sparse guitar playing and the non-conforming drumming, Entertainment gets absolutely everything right.

Gender sounds like something that came out of London or Glasgow back in ’84.  Instead, I think it was recorded right up my street in hot as hell Atlanta. It’s great. A little scary too; the vocals for instance have some sort of phantasmagoric aspect to them, they emit this short wave echo that is a bit spooky in the most respectful sense of the word.  It’s the perfect way to carry the tunes; unorthodox singing on top of unorthodox music. Atonal playing, awkward melodies only topped by a vocalist more preoccupied with creating an atmosphere than walking us through the lyrics. So Pete, once again sorry, do you have any more records as good as this one?

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