Stream Vessel’s Post-Punk Party Record Wrapped In Cellophane
Post-punk has been one of indie rock’s trendier subgenres of the past half-decade or so, with British bands like Idles and Dry Cleaning leading a wave of talky, rhythm-forward art music. But post-punk can be fun, too, as groups like Wet Leg and Yard Act have ably demonstrated. And as heard from bands like Omni, there’s even room for melody in the mix, without abandoning the body-moving herks and jerks that define the style.
Vessel, a quartet from Omni’s hometown of Atlanta, recognize that post-punk can be party music. Wrapped In Cellophane, the band’s new album out today, holds on to the arty quirks that tend to separate post-punk from punk proper, but it deploys them in the context of songs that would kill at a wedding or birthday bash. The band’s bass-driven, sax-blasted tunes remind me of a whole range of greats, from Georgia new wave heroes the B-52s to Love Is All, the shouty blog-era Swedes. Drummer Alex Tuisku sings big, bright hooks in a slightly off-kilter tone, and her bandmates lock into grooves accented with bursts of faded neon.
The album is out today, on a Tuesday, like in the good old days. Stream it below.
Wrapped In Cellophane is out now on Double Phantom.