Defektors – The Bottom of the City
by Dangerous Dave

This is joyfully morbid post punk fuck you. Stripped down and aggressive but tuneful. Love the lofi overdriven production. The fat fuzzy bass is like a sewer rat on steroids. Lots of reverb on the vox floats ‘em like an abandoned spaceman above the ragged mix. The record recaps their career to date, reworking “Doomsday Girl” and “Torn to Pieces” off the first two singles and “Burning Light” and “Kickfirstone” off the Emergency Room comp. Strange to think they’ve been around for five years and this is the first full length. About time. The new stuff is full on dirt and fury. “Black Hole” is as close as these guys will ever get to a love song, and you gotta love that. “Shadow of Fear” has a real aura of imminent doom, like a punk “Gimme Shelter”. Title track also sips from that well, documenting a bummer night at some ghetto warehouse in frantic dirge mode. If there’s any complaint here, it’s that they should reset the metronome from time to time. But I guess they found a good driving groove and if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. The record overall captures the tempo of the times. With the economy in the shitter and the fun police in overdrive, this is fear and loathing you can dance to. Posted: May 20, 2010