SIR-VERE explode expectations with Rebound // Iggy, a dual-sided release that brings their style-defying sound to the fore. The band were formed in Milton Keynes and have found their niche in between synth-pop, industrial rock, dance-punk, and it is with this EP that they have made their biggest statement ever.
It begins with the pulsating, synth focused, early-morning rave anthem Rebound, which marries late-night soul-searching with dance floor dynamite. It is an intensely intimate song however it has the universality of Depeche Mode with the mechanical edge of Nine Inch Nails. The vocals of Craig White take the lead here, uncouth, purposeful and suffused with that painful feeling of going in and out of one relationship to another. And the keys of Gary Morland grind their way into the beat, like strobe lights through the mist, and the production of Steve Craighead creates a vision of luminous neon sadness and anxious motion.
Next there is Iggy, an absolute shift of gears. Where Rebound burns, Iggy goes bang bang. It’s raw, cussed and filled with swagger. The drums smack, the bass growls, and the vocals swerve between a chant and all-out maelstrom. It goes most of the way towards garage rock, a little towards cinema thriller, an underground James Bond anthem, dipped in punk spirit. The tension can be felt and the energy will not stop.
The two tracks are used together in order to reflect two sides of the same modality, light and dark, reflection and rebellion. SIR-VERE do not merely confuse genres here, they demolish the borders between them. Rebound // Iggy is not a mere unloading, it is an auditory shock, a provocation, and a dancing revolt rolled up into a small, exciting ball.
Sir-Vere are not trend seekers, with this release, however, they do show that they are setting their own path. And when they are taking their direction in this way we all are going to be in a hell of a ride.
