Supernova 1006 Blackout (CDr)

BLACKOUT CD
produced by Sierpien Records, Moscow
CDr
released February 28, 2018

1. Ladder                                                                             03:02
2. Run (All Systems)                                                           03:39
3. Juggernaut                                                                      03:32
4. Killer Whale                                                                     02:46
5. Gravity                                                                              03:00
6. Going Wrong                                                                   02:48
7. Humaths                                                                          02:38
8. Myriads                                                                             01:35
9. Borders Are Lost (I Disappear)                                      02:59
10. All Over Again                                                                 03:14
11. We Don't Care                                                                04:08
12. Amnesia (feat. Mr.Kitty)                                                04:37
13. Going Wrong (Kill Your Boyfriend Remix)                  06:14

...though beginning tamely enough – “Ladder” steps out with a haunted systolic beat and a shadowy synth fog and manages to keep itself inside the reverbed parameters of a drone-hypnotic dark pop song (the frantic here most assuredly expressed as an undercurrent) – there’s not a lot of respite offered thereafter. “Run (All Systems),” launching atop an iconic quote from The Day the Earth Stood Still, is a breathless sci-fi banger that could well scare the masses both on to and off of the dance floor, up-next “Juggernaut,” takes its predecessor’s cues and ramping them up, goes, if you’ll pardon my saying, for the throbbing industrial jugular, while first single “Going Wrong” is a superb example of ecstatic whiplash, emerging from a lurking cloud of eroded radio static into a full-on rhythmic trounce in the blink of a nervous paranoic’s eye. Meanwhile, the sparse – if heavily enshrouded – “Amnesia,” featuring Austin’s Mr. Kitty, boasts an almost epileptic grace like an extended seizure under exquisite control. Though much of the album utilizes – quite persuasively – fractured effects and sharp snippets of inserted dialogue that tip it outwardly toward the lightly experimental/conceptual (there’s little doubt that we’re in modern dystopian territory here), it’s not an entirely surprising irony that Blackout‘s highlight cut (if only by a micron) is the fairly straightforward “All Over Again,” though even there the shiny-as-chrome sound profile and smoothly hurtling 4/4 tempo only serves to more pointedly underscore the Blade Runnered – and none more timely – mood racing through the center of this record.
Whether confrontational – “Borders Are Lost (Disappear)” rather rages with impetus, slashing out immediately with a pounding impatience that even a breather of a bridge can’t manage to calm – or (ever-so-slightly) lighthearted – “We Don’t Care” with its out-front impudence and perfectly shameless 80’s-styled synth claps – this pair’s intensity and commitment, their ability to harness the darker emotions and shape them into sounds and beats that move in equal measure both muscle and imagination, puts them quite nearly in a jarring league of their own. Escapist and inescapably real, inescapably present, Blackout proves itself as not only one of this young year’s best post-punk albums but, more impressively, that Supernova 1006 are unquestionably at the top of their game. And that, given how ‘on’ their game has been from pretty much the beginning, is very good news indeed. (Dave Cantrell//Stereo Embers)

...throughout the past two years they have had some dramatic developments adding more and more electronica along the way. Their latest single Going Wrong can probably be called the most accessible song yet and, while still maintaining their signature guitar sound, it is a darkwave beauty created for the dancefloor. A melody to hum in your mind, a chorus to sing along to and a beat to make you dance. What more can you ask for? (Christian Schaefer//Rule of three)