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Review: 'Venus Fly Trap, The'
'Icon'   

-  Label: 'Glass Modern records'
-  Genre: 'Indie' -  Release Date: '28.9.18.'

Our Rating:
The Venus Fly Trap are one of those bands from the late 80's that I clearly remember seeing playing at the Falcon in Camden but in the case of The Venus Fly Trap I always get them confused with The Venus Beads who I also saw at the Falcon in some very hazy times. Now I think I possibly saw them with The Jazz Butcher but I'm not certain by any means.

I also remember having a few songs by them on Compilation cassettes but don't ask me which ones as that would take some digging in the crates here so to speak. So it's cool to finally own a whole album by them.

The album opens with Icon that almost sounds like a reworking of James Young's Songs They Never Play On The Radio that was used in the Nico Icon film but taken off to a more modern space ambient setting.

Vitesse sounds like your racing around the Northampton in an old Vitesse with a sort of Kraftwerk style soundtrack as you go by those red brick Victorian buildings as they approach the Lamplighter and all sorts of shenanigans take place.

Voodoo Voodoo has a motoric beat with a real hypnotic swirling keyboards and synths as the voodoo priestess casts her spell upon you as skittering beats slither across the floor like a snake running wild across your place it's a bit like The Cravats going a bit techno.

Flashback is what this album is to me in the same week I saw The Primevals for the first time since about 1989 or so I'm back in a sweat soaked Falcon it's full of shambling messes propped against the walls semi-comatose listening to whatever band is lurching through another set on the other side of the smoky fog filled room but you can have your own Flashback along to this song.

Deadly Nightshade sounds like Telex or very early Depeche Mode winking at us about the perfumed Garden and the delights within only Alex Novak's vocals sound a bit like John Lydon's P.I.L. style vocals did originally.

Return Of Sidewinder is a movie soundscape about the Metal Boys departing the scene hopefully without any connections to the New Malden party scene that particular French band used to sing about as it has more of dubby chilled out feel to what Sidewinder is getting up to alone by himself and it doesn't feel too onanistic either.

The Genesis Of The Daleks sounds like they have been sampling and reworking plenty of Whovian music before turning it into their own dance floor epic that I know a lot of people who would be very happy dancing too this tune.

Puppet almost feels a little bit anorak indie as Alex sings about his resentment it's a rather cool chilled out almost Vaselines or Pastels style song very cool.

The album closes with in the Moonlight which is almost paisley tinged blissed out indie with some layered almost choral backing vocals and some really nice organ parts a very interesting song that needs to be heard a good few times to let it work its way into you properly it's a very cool close to an album that's well worth hearing.

Find out more at https://www.facebook.com/glassrecordsoflondon https://glassmodern.bandcamp.com/album/icon

  author: simonovitch

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