Sydney electronic and experimental rock trio, PVT (formerly Pivot) have recently released their fourth LP, Homosapien.
PVT started out as an improvisational band, blending technical instrumental skills with electronic elements to create energetic math- rock infused tunes on their first two albums, Make Me Love You (2005) and O Soundtrack My Heart (2008). Church With No Magic, their third release, saw the band embrace the more electronic side of things, to varying degrees of success.
Upon Listening to Homosapien I was pleasantly surprised. Pleasantly blown away, in fact! Rather than safely returning to their roots in more guitar-based music, they have really taken their electronic elements by the neck this time and vastly improved on them. Right off the bat; THE SYNTHS!! MY GOD, THE SYNTHS!! They are just incredible on
this release: thick and analogue-sounding without ever being cheesy or repetitive. The vocals are delivered with passion and emotion, standing out in spite of the captivating electronic elements. The fantastic use of effects made for extremely rewarding listening; rather than clouding the mix with reverb and having things lost in the background, they’re used well to highlight and accent certain things.
The album sees some big shifts in mood, most notably on the dark and brooding tracks ‘Electric’ and ‘Nightfall’, both of which are personal favourites. The title track, ‘Homosapien’, begins with some fantastic syncopated bass and layered percussion along with a bit of flashy vocal layering and editing, before giving way to a massive guitar accompaniment and slipping into a more straightforward rock track. The mash-up of styles shown is also done tastefully; there are even some house-influenced tracks that wouldn’t go astray on a Four Tet or Caribou album.
The album has a clear, thought-out theme about it and comes off somewhat more accessible than their previous releases: a great starting point for those unfamiliar with their music and sure not to disappoint fans of their older material either. Fantastically mixed and produced, PVT have really found their sound with this release – a real breath of fresh air in Australian music.
