Neumatic Parlo

In the organizer's words:

Düsseldorf's Neumatic Parlo not only cross the Rhine on their sonic journey, but also swim across the English Channel on their debut album play it as it lays: Drenched in the guitar sound of the early 90s, the five musicians skillfully take their place alongside UK greats of the recent past - fans of Shame, Squid or Dry Cleaning will get much more than their money's worth here, it all sounds so urgent, inventive and wholly un-German! Inspired by Joan Didion's novel of the same name, Neumatic Parlo tell of lonely masses, aimless ambition and despair in the big city on play it as it lays. They carry Didion's urban fear of the future from days gone by into the present and make it all the more palpable in the process. Between the concrete towers of guitars, beautiful, astute lyrics proliferate again and again, expressing the world-weariness of a disappointed urban romantic. After all, the future was once believed in here in the metropolis. Perhaps we are also talking about their own art when they say in (feed me) shallow kiss: "words spit on the pavement / like leaves around a tree". The ten songs on play it as it lays pelt down on us as a distorted shower, taking the necessary space and flooding it with stimuli in keeping with the times. In an echo chamber of feedback loops, energetic riffs vie for the undivided attention they deserve. Over the length of the album, an emotional maelstrom unfolds that you simply cannot and will not escape. Neumatic Parlo have put so much attention to detail into their art that you want to say: There is hope after all!