Britain's These New Puritans had its first taste
of the U.S. in March at the South By Southwest music festival, the cacophonous
meat market where 2,000 bands try to stand out from each other. Distinguishing
the group wasn't difficult, though: First, frontman and guitarist-vocalist Jack
Barnett performed in a chain-mail shirt, which he wears "for protection."
(Keyboardist Sophie Sleigh-Johnson dressed like she just came from a job
interview.) Second, of the myriad influences heard during SXSW, the likes of
The Fall, PiL, and Big Black weren't terribly common. But listening to These
New Puritans' heavily rhythmic, melodically sparse post-punk—full of
fractured beats and melodies, and repetitious vocal fragments—the
association was undeniable. The group's music, like Barnett's chain-mail
outfit, is oblique by design. Beat Pyramid contains thoughtful examinations of
numerology, esoteric literary references, and the sort of thudding abrasiveness
that eschews hooks but remains engrossing.
Singer-guitarist Jack Barnett on why These New
Puritans probably won't ever write a love song:
"Everyone's written songs about that. We like to
take stuff that we're interested in and make it into something. Why not take
something that's big and make it mean nothing? When people previously said that
love songs are just an attempt at finding something universal that will sell to
everyone, I didn't believe it. I thought it was just a cliché. Obviously I'm
not talking about Stock, Aitken & Waterman—they're open about it. I
mean 'authentic' artists. But anyway, love songs are amongst the best songs; I
like some of them."
On whether people are dismissive of or
interested by TNP's idea-heavy music:
"I think it's 50-50, actually, of people who just
think it's ridiculous and rubbish, and people who think it's interesting. For
us, it's more interesting to make music with stuff like that in it. I mean,
it's dance music or pop music, but it's got something else, like a magic part."
On guitar music:
"I don't like guitar music; I don't listen to it,
really… We're a band with guitars, not a 'guitar band.' I think it means we
approach it in a slightly different way, because I don't think playing the
guitar is a particularly 'cool' thing to do."
On the impact of technology on TNP's music:
"There are more ways of being a band. We want to
be lots of different bands at the same time, so it helps us."
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