Single Reviews: 16th February 2022: Zrangorn, Maruja, Box of Matches, My Twisted Heart




Zrangorn - Black Berlin 

Black Berlin is the title track of the most recent EP from Ballina's Zrangorn (Conor Hickey). From the moment the sinister synth starts, you know you're in for a sepulchral listening experience. An industrial drum machine, atmospheric electric guitars, and Hickey's disgruntled vocals certainly create a mood. It all seems rather forlorn, however technically accomplished, until a somewhat winsome chorus comes to add melodic dynamics. The singalong nature of the chorus harks back to Hickey's Oi! days, though here punk guitars are swapped for more progressive tones. The intention is the same, and the subversion of accepted norms manages to surprise with its accessibility on this commercially ambivalent but awesome single. 


Maruja - Blind Spot 

post punk

Mancunian art punkers Maruja develop Blind Spot, an intense and rewarding track, over five minutes of rotating quiet and loud passages. The band members seem to go together like glue and more glue on this oddly synchronous assault of post-punk jazz. Saxophonist Joe Carroll melodically and rhythmically plays in opposition to the unfettered drums of Jacob Hayes, while the expansive bass of Matt Buonaccorsi helps give a canvas to the spacey vocal chants and clean guitars of Harry Wilkinson. I'm sold. 


Box of Matches - Box of Matches

indie rock

Kool and the Gang, Talk Talk, and even Black Sabbath are just some of the bands who have released songs named after themselves. You can now add the dreamily melodic and subdued Californian group Box of Matches to that list. Taken from the EP No More Bad Songs, this lushly produced track features soft, acoustic melodies drifting over reverbed guitar and up-close-and-personal vocals. The singer, Kendra Menneghetti, does a good job of alternating between these delicate spiderweb-thin articulations, and more impassioned belting. The tight drumming of Mark Mckinney keeps the whole ship moving along nicely. It's three and a half minutes, but feels shorter, which is always a good sign.


My Twisted Heart - Heartbreaker

In this two-and-a-half-minute hermetically produced pop song, My Twisted Heart (Hong Kong's Po Ki Ching, who now resides on the Atlantic Archipelago) has no qualms about coming across as a technically gifted lothario. Between pockets of silence, spacious, radio-friendly synth leads and spliced-up trap drums create an alluring, albeit heavily computerised, track. Ching's vocals are pitched down, then up, then mixed together to give a broader spectrum to the delivery, and though the subject matter may come off too cutesy to be interesting, My Twisted Heart showcases a pop sensibility that sounds as equally exciting as it does genuine.