Contrary to their name, Mandy, Indiana are a band from Manchester, England. Having already dropped a couple of impactful singles this year, they come into full focus with their third, “Nike of Samothrace”, which arrives today via Fire Talk. They say:
“We wanted ‘Nike of Samothrace’ to be like a blunt instrument, both lyrically and musically. It’s purely brute force, gouging away with all dials turned up full, including the gutteral bass line, which was inspired by Thomas Bangalter’s score for Irreversible and Hans Zimmer’s score for Blade Runner 2049. We’re very much driven by rhythm and movement and also wanted to experiment with a Liquid Liquid style percussive breakdown, we love when genres and dynamics are smashed together in an untidy way… we love to butcher things.”
From the above quote, it’s evident that Gary, Indiana are a well-informed band with a wide musical knowledge and palette of influences – but they also know themselves, because “Nike of Samothrace” is indeed pure sonic butchery. Don’t expect the pristine wide-angled sounds of Bangalter and Zimmer here, instead prepare yourself for an onslaught of industrial-grade synth and white noise, propped up by skeletal and mechanical beats that keep this beast marching forwards. Over the top of this, spoken French from vocalist Valentine Caulfield can be heard, with tension and frustration in her voice growing in tandem with the intensity of Gary, Indiana’s playing – building to a frothing crescendo, and then suddenly vanishing into a vacuum.
Wonderfully weird DIY-esque video by Will Shields below.
With more hopefully to follow soon from Gary, Indiana, make sure to keep up with them on Bandcamp, Instagram and Facebook.
