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Album Review

The Ethical Debating Society
New Sense Odd Box Records

Article written by Kev W - Jul 5, 2015

Indie-punk with a nice slop of riot grrrl mixed in for good measure? Yes, it's unlikely that The Ethical Debating Society will serve up much you haven't heard in various forms over the years already, but when they do it with so much fervour, vitality and energy then that doesn't matter a jot. 'New Sense' sounds fresh and impassioned from start to finish, and while there may be high points, they're there on merit, not because they follow anything sub-standard; you won't find any filler, even at a generous fourteen tracks long.

A few songs of note? Well, 'Future Imperfect' has a great bass intro and some brooding verses before it gets a proper tantrum on and thrashes towards a throat-shredding climax; 'Crosote Ideas' could be a British, female-fronted Nirvana before they discovered that selling lots of records was more appetising than they first thought; there's an almost Pixies-esque quality to the noise and structure of 'Sum Of My Parts'; 'Hobson's Choice' could be early Los Camesinos! in severe need of anger managment classes, and 'Cover Up' is much the same, but with some blistering guitar and a punkier edge. On 'List Of Requirements' it's The Ethical Debating Society who seem in need of those anger management classes, but it's great (and noisy) fun. Perhaps best of all is 'Razor Party' which starts off like someone taking some dangerous weapons to a Jimi Hendrix record and has a memorable chorus.

Another person may pick a different handful of tunes to best represent 'New Sense' (there are some great lyrics too, such as the ironic "I like you, I like you, but you repeat yourself" on 'Kill You Last'). The only time that visceral, guitar-slaughtering ferocity lets up is on lovely closer 'Disasters I've Known And Loved', a lo-fi, a capella song that's really quite sweet. However you might want to try and pick it apart, if this sounds like your kind of thing, then 'New Sense' is very unlikely to let you down.

Links:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Ethical-Debating-Society/76532450884
http://theethicaldebatingsociety.bandcamp.com/album/new-sense-2
http://oddboxrecords.com