With That Knife – This Place, A Thousand Times – Single

Post-punk? Art-rock? Hardcore-punk? With That Knife are a band whose exact genre in full would probably make hyphens extinct. Such is the eclectic nature of the group and diversity in their output, that you may assume them to be unable to tie down a sound or coming across as an ugly audio car crash. Instead they walk the fine line betwixt the two, and do it very well indeed…

WTK have been one of our favourite local bands for some time now. The Salford-formed quintet have been making noises on the underground for a few years, but it is with the installment of their third bassist that things seem to be gathering pace at long last. The first evidence of such is this two-pronged downloadable single.

Their songs are as busy as the cluttered floor artwork above would suggest. From the jarring stutter that opens ‘This Place, A Thousand Times’, you’re in for a ride of twists and turns. Slowly and delicately the song creeps into life with Minus The Bear-esque probing, before lead singer Owen Barratt’s vocals whip up some tempo. With southern clarity and confidence, its hard, if not a tad lazy, for a Northerner like myself to not draw comparisons to Kele Bloc Party.

Add to the party strings of notes as delicate and enchanting as current Kitsuné heroes Two Door Cinema Club, layered with all the math-rock indulgences of Foals. Then, there’s just the fact that these guys clearly like things as loud as they like them busy. So turn up the volume, add stronger bass and harder drums in the interludes, and synth fusion and a scratch pad creating all manners of fuckery. Forget the old addage, ‘less is more’; here’s a fat dose of everything-at-once.

As the song asks ‘Where did you go?’, you’re sent spiralling upwards before the band let loose with an instumental wandering so freely, only to realise you’re lost mid-air when ‘normality’ resumes with the second verse. Well, I say ‘verse’, but as with last year’s EP, the song structure textbook has been flung out of the window without so much as a page being turned. And in this 3-minute plus number, it’s a case of action, not words regardless.

B-side ‘Excuse? Me!’ commences with a dwindling angular riff shortly followed by pounding drums and a rush of cymbals. A more upbeat start but again the vocals signal frequent changes of pace. It’s not so much stop-start, more like a distance runner with intermittent sugar rushes. With much more talking on show here, it’s definitely an offering of the band’s angry punk side. “Well I guess it’s all about magazines and haircuts” – a tirade against fashion and culture dictation, perhaps?

The ending evokes the visceral post-hardcore of At The Drive-In. Energy and chaos going hand-in-hand as the guitars smash, the electronics swerve and the song ultimately ends nothing akin to how it started. Clocking in at just over 2 and a half minutes, the B-side cuts short and leaves you wanting more; surely the desired effect of this single.

So, difficult to pigeon-hole? Sure. But equally hard to dislike. Whether you’re of the angular persuasion, like music to be loud and frantic or are generally a sucker for something catchy and dancable; there’s something within this that you can enjoy.

FOR FANS OF : Foals, Two Door Cinema Club, At The Drive-In.

Go here to download ‘This Place, A Thousand Times’ and B-side ‘Excuse? Me!’ for a grand total of £1! And while you’re there, help yourself to last year’s 3-track EP for free! 100 pennies for 5 tracks then; not too shabby.

http://www.myspace.com/withthatknife

NEXT GIGS : 20th March @ Mad Ferret, Preston // 1st April @ The Canteen, Barrow-In-Furness