MTUK | We Don’t Drink, We Don’t Take Drugs, We Don’t Have Sex, We Feel Compassion

In this age of salaciousness, it is hard to find anyone who shuns both drink, drugs AND sex. Sure, head to a hardcore night and you’re bound to find a straightedger or two, but you only need to have read Manson’s Long Hard Road Out Of Hell to know what a debauched game these industrial Goth types often play. This androgynous latex-wearing triumvirate are having none of it; in fact, they are the sort of good, clean boys any wholesome Christian parent would be delighted for you to bring round for dinner… well, if they can get past all the rubber and eyeliner, that is!

Given that this is merely a three track demo, it comes in very sleek cardboard packaging; a glaring clinical white broken up by text quotes such as ‘You have an out-of-body experience when we mix The Smashing Pumpkins and Marilyn Manson. And Tears For Fears too.’ Now, as professional as this all looks it is this which lets it down and even leaves them open to criticism. Sure enough the second part isn’t far from the truth, but saying so on your CD cover just screams ‘cover band.’ But anyway, onto the music and at only 11 minutes in length this is over and done with before I’ve managed to even prise myself into my PVC dress, let alone get out the front door and yet already I feel as though I’ve made it down the Wendy House, drank a couple of bottles and now I’m getting down to some ‘Compassion On The Dancefloor;’ eugh, well perhaps minus the compassion part, though it’s nothing I haven’t seen before! The techno beats come fast and thick while a dark undercurrent of bottom end pulls you down into the music; perhaps not enough to make this the out-of-body experience they promise (well, unless they are sneaking a bit of acid when no-one is looking) but it does have that kind of vibe to it.

Vocals, when not so heavily synthesized, are quite dark and seductive and remind of a cross between Trent Reznor and Billy Corgan, while on ‘Fashion Slave’ they are delivered with a bit of a twang that certainly warrants the Marilyn Manson reference. This track is easily the best of the bunch. While sandwiched between two tracks that really focus on being of supersonic speed, this is more mid-paced. The drum machine is heavy and there’s a certain ambience to it all as sounds all whirl around in the mix while an angular guitar pattern works its way in on occasion. ‘Heaven Forbid’ is fast and projects a confident, focussed rhythm that is clearly on a mission and yet in places it all falls apart and the tumultuous rhythm leads way to a rather haunting chorus that sweeps across the dancefloor emitting a layer of darkness that I rather like. These three tracks are highly danceable and really make me want to move. How this would work as a full length album, I’m not sure as it really depends on what else they can offer in terms of making one that is dynamic and not simply one long track… but I’d recommend this as one to take down the club, hand to the DJ and insist he play it.