Formed in 2008, Italian post-punk trio Soviet Soviet has been delving out their blend of gothy-post punk through a series of self-released singles that culminated in 2011 with their EP Summer, Jesus. Following Summer, Jesus, the band has backed their releases with a strong touring schedule supported by an intense DIY ethic. Now, the band has translated their signature live sound into their first studio album, Fate.

Fate features a sound that makes clear connections to British post punk bands of the past such as Joy Division. The driving drum beats are carefully layered beneath both a warm, nearly synth like bass and hypnotically droning guitar to excellent effect. The band manages to combine this sound with vocals that are echoing and nearly shrill in nature to an effect very similar to goth rock bands of the past like Bauhaus. Tracks like “No Lesson”, “Ecstasy”, and “Hidden” all serve as prime examples of this from the album. Despite the overall gloomy nature of many of their songs, Soviet Soviet makes sure to infuse nearly every song on the album with a massive amount of energy in order to maintain avoid losing the audience’s attention as shown by tracks like “Something You Can’t Forget” and, one of my favorite tracks on the album, “Introspective Trip”.

My only complaint about Fate is that it does manage to become a bit repetitive as one makes their way through the album. There is a good bit of diversity, as shown by tracks like the semi-surf rock inspired “Around Here”, but overall the bulk of the album delivers the same feel on each track, although, this is not too unexpected for a band’s debut album.

Overall, Fate is certainly a strong showing for Soviet Soviet’s debut album. They manage to establish a distinct sound that fans of late 80’s goth rock are sure to love. The band’s debut is certainly a tight and well put together example of what up and coming bands should aim for with their studio debuts. The only thing I’d like to see from Soviet Soviet in the future is some experimentation with their sound, particularly in terms of their vocals. While there is some variation in terms on their instrumentation throughout the album occasionally, the vocals largely maintain the same feeling on each track. A bit of variation in this regard would certainly go a long way in helping to keep the audience captivated by entrancing nature of their sound.

Touring information is scarce for Soviet Soviet right now, however, they do have a few future dates in November scheduled in support of their debut album. In the meantime, ,make sure to keep an eye on their BandCamp page in order to check out some of their older releases and to give Fate a spin once it makes its proper debut.

– November 10th, 2013 – Peterson Worrell

Soviet Soviet – “No Lesson”

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