Mandy, Indiana’s debut I’ve Seen A Way dropped back in 2023 and was quite the listening experience. Mixing post-punk’s jagged hard edge with dance-heavy moments, all delivered in the urgent and frenetic vocals of lead singer Valentine Caulfield’s and her native French language. The album was as catchy as it was disorienting.
Mandy, Indiana has returned to the fold with their sophomore release. URGH takes what I’ve Seen A Way offered up and burns it to the ground. Those ashes are repurposed into an industrial cacophony of noise bombs, eloquent music violence, and a penchant for art rock eccentricities. Once you get past the shock of such a whiplash change of style, URGH wins you over with its bombast and industrial heft.
URGH seems to take its cues more so from Wax Trax Records as opposed to 4AD. Less of the British art rock mood and more of that screaming industrial noise that we heard coming from bands like Skinny Puppy, Front 242, and Ministry. Of course Mandy, Indiana’s sound still comes through the melee of chaos and distortion, but the band is more willing to make things abrasive rather than catchy.
“Sevastopol” opens in glitchy tones and dissonance as vocalist Valentine Caulfield sings through a vocoder as if an android has been corrupted. “Magazine” comes off like an underground hip hop track slowly crisping in the stage lights. Vocals barking in what sounds like both pain and pleasure. “Dodecahedron” sounds like it was recorded in some underground cavern. It starts out sounding like noise emanating from some Sri Lankan courtyard, but quickly morphs into some serious dark club vibes.
If you were a fan of I’ve Seen A Way you will find songs to glob onto; songs that will keep you around long enough to peel away the layers of the sonic assault so you can go deeper. I’m reminded of the great Luis Vasquez and his project The Soft Moon here. It’s equal parts deaf-defying and lush. “A Brighter Tomorrow” sounds like some alternate universe St. Vincent, while “Sicko!” sounds like a solid underground hip hop banger with a great guest spot via rapper billy woods. And “Cursive” is an all out techno mover and shaker, towing the line between Robyn and early NIN.
Mandy, Indiana don’t make it easy to find you’re way into URGH, but once you do it’s worth every Tinnitus-inducing moment.
Discover more from Complex Distractions
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
