On Friday the 20th of
December, 3 upcoming local bands of the dark electronic scene shared the stage
of Death Disco club. The three bands, Lip Forensics, Strawberry Pills and The
Man & His Failures are no strangers to the local Athenian scene. Their
members have been active for many years in various projects and they all have
collaborated together in one way or another.
First up was The Man & His Failures who appeared as a four piece fronted by
main man Manos Karakatsanis. They began their set with tracks "Bathed In
Moonlight", "Persona Non Grata" and "If Mississippi John
Hurt Knew What I've Done" from their debut cassette that was released a
year ago. Then they played a dynamic take of "Weird, Wild & Free",
an A.R.E. Weapons cover that was a real shot of adrenaline. They ended with two
new songs, "She Comes With The Dagger" and "Nothing" (the first
single from the upcoming debut album "Survival Kit") that sounded
really promising showing a more minimal synthwave direction, adding to their
post-punk style, making us anticipate to listen to their future release.
By the time Strawberry Pills took to the stage, the club was packed. The duo,
consisting of singer Valisia Odell and Antonis Konstantaras on guitar have
resurfaced after a 6 year hiatus. After an intro, where on the stage backdrop a
visual of their shadowy images was projected, they preformed some new songs
like "Scooby", "Icarus", "Porcelain Face",
"Dreams", "Voyeur" and "Verbal Suicide" from
their forthcoming debut album "Murder To A Beat". Some of which have
already gained fair airplay and have created quite a stir. The post-punk/minimal
wave duo performed well with Valisia being the main focus with her
characteristic singing style and stage performance and Antonis backing up,
banging out the riffs on guitar and bass. They continued with the already known
songs like their first ever hit "Sad Eyes" and "Disgrace"
from their 2013 EP "Conversation Piece".
Last up was Lip Forensics, a duo that plays electronic, idm, electro, glitch
music. I wasn’t familiar with their music and this was the first time I was
seeing them live. They started their set with "Fo(u)r", a track from
their 12"single "Cheiloscopy". Their stage presentation was
spectacular, with both members wearing illuminated suits! They reminded me of
acts such as Orbital and the 90’s English rave scene in general. They continued
with "Ro(a) rschach", "The Awful Truth", "Talos",
the digital single "Hybristophilia" released in 2017, "Senescence",
"Forsaken" and "Prosopoagnosia".
Review by Nick Drivas.
