Knives are a post-punk band, if you couldn’t tell. You should be able to; they practically spell it out. The emphasis on an oppressive low-end; the shreds of noise from the bass and saxophone; the branding jurisdiction of ‘mononym and uncomfortable zoom-in for artwork’; all are present. So is that it, then? Is there enough evidence in there to toss them to landfill right now, to be with post-punk’s plentiful crowd of anons? Well, considering that, up to now, Knives have more often rubbed shoulders with hardcore acts in their crusade for diversity and inclusivity, you might want to hold off on that trip to the dump for now. Indeed, the feel of Bloc Party if they’d been co-parented by IDLES and Refused is a way more intriguing frame for what’s going on here.
Naturally, then, GLITTER easily manages to distinguish itself from the pack. Many of its methods are directly lifted from those aforementioned acts, as a matter of fact, though that’s far from any sort of admonition. They’re all far enough away from post-punk’s middle of the road as it is, so pooling them together and divvying out the results proves perfectly valid. Just take opener The Dagger as your first piece of evidence, where the hulking guitars and bass grind inside its enormous mix, beefed up further by Izzi Allard’s discordant sax trills and the animalistic (but always tuneful) bellows of Jay Schottlander.
And yet, there’s always a clear vision that ensures a post-punk firmness is in view, snapping back no matter how much Knives wish to deviate. That’s far from a bad thing, of course. It gives GLITTER a real sense of strength, arguably more so than Knives’ previous EP Newhounds. That was certainly a solid release, but it was there to test the waters more than anything, in hindsight. By comparison, GLITTER is this heaving, all-consuming monster that’s completely fixated on its aim. Rhinestone Cowboy (no, not that one) is a near-perfect transposition of post-punk ideals into a hardcore rager, to where you almost have to believe that Ben Marshall’s bass strings couldn’t have escaped unscathed with how much violent twang is dealt to them. A bit later on PHD and especially Chroma, the whirlwinds of tempos and dizzying instrumental swings (see Allard’s contributions, once again) feel indebted to myriad hardcore maniacs, spanning Refused to Viagra Boys and even swatches of The Blood Brothers in there.
It’s unquestionably cool in how determined Knives are venture out and fill their own space on the post-punk map. Especially for a British band where it’s typically Fontaines, Sports Team or bust, GLITTER isn’t that limited. Not even close. It’s where the hardcore side comes back to play its role, bringing a swift clout to perceptively rigid walls, and leaving Knives with a lot more space to operate in. They’re big and burly enough to justify their existence as six-piece (even if Erin Cook’s drumming could do with a touch more volume sometimes), and the album rolls by quickly enough to meet some consistent standards of strength. When the only track to breach three minutes is the haunted coda I See Them Fall, it’s not like Knives are shy about their more pummelling intentions.
And that’s ultimately a good thing when GLITTER can handle it. Other than Post Macho and the notable drop in mix ferocity it undergoes, it’s not like Knives struggle at all to keep up appearances. When you’ve got a vocalist like Schlottlander onboard, that’s practically a given. It goes without saying that his expressiveness is a welcome change from your average dour post-punk drawl-merchant, but even on the hardcore side of things, someone this yelpy and elasticated while sticking to a clean register isn’t an everyday occurrence. It’s a real unique presence that he brings, and one that Knives is clearly delighted to have. Galvanising progressive and conscious messages and making them stick out is always useful, and from tone of voice alone, it becomes one of GLITTER’s most persistent assets. Even on a song like Eat Thy Neighbour with how perilously close it drifts to IDLES-esque watchwording, it’s far from as hollow as it could be.
It’s overall a really interesting dichotomy that Knives work in, and one where the balance they have to maintain never looks in danger of tipping too far in one direction or the other. With that, GLITTER is one of the stronger debuts of the year, and points towards some real traction for Knives moving forward. For what they’re offering, they’ve got the makings of a pretty phenomenal find, already almost all the way towards the top shelf of the UK’s multifaceted alternative crowd. Compared to a great swathe of current post-punk, Knives are in a whole different ballpark, and that’s entirely to their advantage. They clearly know that, and are doing their utmost to ensure that’s working for them. Even in these early days, they’re succeeding with flying colours.
For fans of: IDLES, Viagra Boys, Refused
‘GLITTER’ by Knives is released on 2nd May on Marshall Records.
Words by Luke Nuttall
