The Uncarved Block
The Magazine dedicated to Unsigned
and Independent-Label bands
Flesh Tetris
"High Score" EP Review
Flesh Tetris are a breath of "bubblegum and brains, with a huge dose of tin-foil weirdness" (according to their Bandcamp page), and who could disagree with this description? Like an early "Rock Lobster" era B-52s, for the modern generation, mixing sci-fi subjects with retro ambition and quirky lyrics. The Male/female vocal interchange reminds me of Minty (does anyone remember their single "That's Nice" from the 90s?) whilst the musical content is very accomplished, with synths, bass and guitars adding layers of punk-style pop, that is up-beat and dance-able.
Track one is entitled "A.I" and is a twisted tale of poor Joe, whose life has been taken away from him by the introduction of Artificial Intelligence. The pounding beat and drum tone gives the rhythm a robotic feel, whilst the story is told with almost spoken vocals that break into a catchy chorus, that'll get stuck in your brain (if you are human, of course - otherwise it may short circuit your motherboard!) There's a clever (yet tongue-in-cheek) "binary" middle section consisting of ones and zeros, that puts the song on pause, briefly, whilst we change floppy discs, before reloading that super-chorus once more!
"Three In A Cubicle" is an adult tale of experimentation and excess, because after all we can "sleep when we are dead!" The synths sound almost like an old 80s arcade machine, with the drums adding a sarcastic dance groove to this kinky, spanking tune. The guitar riffing has a psychedelic edge to it, that fits perfectly, breaking into a power-chord, pop-punk-style chorus, that keeps the energy going throughout.
Continuing the dark undertones of this EP is "Schadenfreude" (look up the meaning for yourself, mwahahaha!) that glories in the sing-a-long nature of the band's music, giving us a trilogy of jaunty tracks, that defy the lyrical content. Flesh Tetris are experts of the juxtaposition of deep, twisted words being sung to toe-tapping happy-go-lucky melodies (and this certainly brings a smile to my face!)
Annoyingly, I was too slow to write a review for the debut album by Flesh Tetris, which was released in May 2019, but I highly recommend giving it a listen. The "High Score EP" is almost like a three-track extension of the album "Wrong Kind Of Adults" (still available on Bandcamp), which has some stand out tracks such as the paranoid "Rabbits," the very apt "Panic Buy" (See the videos, below), the soulful "Jailbait Sex Pest Infestation," and the Schrodinger humdinger "Cat Box Journey!"
The Flesh Tetris Bandcamp page gives further explanation of the album, and the band's ethos:
"The band's debut album was produced by Brian O'Shaughnessy, who handled recording duties on both Primal Scream's classic Screamadelica and The Firm's novelty 1980s smash Star Trekkin. It's not a huge leap to say the sound of Flesh Tetris lands somewhere between the two. 'we wanted an accurate representation of Flesh Tetris's live sound...Big, Dynamic, Quirky, Melodic and Fun with a dark twisted underbelly.
The quintet formed in 2017 after various members met 'at a Russ Meyer filmathon in London', bonding over a mutual love of cult films and retro sci-fi. Others were introduced at a mutual friend's funeral. "One night there was a flash of light and he appeared and said 'you must start kinky sci-fi band together.'" (Taken from The Bandcamp page)
Say's it all, I'm sure you'll agree?
So, do yourself a favour in these dark times (March 2020) and listen to this band, dance with abandon around your home and remember the good old days when we were all allowed out to party whenever we wanted. Unleash your imagination with Flesh Tetris!
Andy
