Imagine if Roxy Music had met Black Flag, taken ecstasy, then piled in a van and moved to the East Coast and you just might begin to get it. The second single from their new album 'Alpha Draconis', "NYC Beast" is an acid-punk scorcher that conjures up the ghosts of synth pioneers of the past, then dives head first into alienation and heightened paranoia for modern life.
All the sounds of a bustling metropolis are here in a bursting overload of the senses: blistering synths weave in and out frantically like overheated taxis in a 5 o'clock gridlock, the bass tone is drenched in a sewer-like sludge, while thunderous drums pummel your ears mercilessly like a symphony of
jackhammers.
Singer Todd Thomas' snotty vocal is a venomous blend that is equal parts Johnny Rotten and Brian Ferry -- the rousing repetitive chorus "You're all alone, yet there's people everywhere you want to go" is a universal critique understood by tourist and native alike, and might be one of the band's most insightful lyrics to date. No one understands New York better than its natives and Sensual Harassment have just crafted what soon might be another one of the city's anthems.
... more