These New Puritans

Hidden (Domino/Angular)

By Dana Raidt
Published: March 20th, 2010 | 7:00am

It seems fashionable lately, if not ironic, to cite the Wu-Tang Clan as musical inspiration. It's rare for this influence to be palpable outside the hip-hop world, but avant-garde British band These New Puritans artfully translates the Staten Island sound.

With 2008’s Beat Pyramid, These New Puritans established itself not only as a solid Brit-rock band but as deft manipulators of severe beats with futuristic synths and samplers. But while Beat Pyramid only hinted at a radical vision, the band’s second full-length, Hidden, realizes it fully. There may not be any killer bees here, but Hidden’s constant back-and-forth between war cry and sparseness creates enough drama to convince you that some sort of Mad Max situation is about to go down. Swords are drawn (literally, it sounds like) in “We Want War,” “Three Thousand,” and “Attack Music,” but reprieve comes in slower tracks like “5” and “Hologram” that evoke Bjork’s “The Anchor Song.”

Singer Jack Barnett narrates the foray into combat with both cool detachment and humanity while his twin brother George’s furious, almost tribal, drumming lends both passion and logic. Like Bjork, Einstürzende Neubauten, and Nine Inch Nails, These New Puritans craft songs that are stirring yet keep the listener at arm's length. The war imagery is delivered with such measured intensity (another Wu-Tang specialty) that it seems less glorification or commentary than it does hypnosis or a deliberate manipulation of the listener's emotions. Whether or not it’s a result of listening to Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), the band has definitely found its voice with Hidden.

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Domino