Description:	CD on Structurally Sound
	Format:	CD
	Genre(s):	Post-Punk
	Label:	Structurally Sound
	Price:	£10.29
	Availability:	Dispatched within 2-5 days (on average).

4
...according to our Brian on 14 May 2009.

Lahndan boyz Neils Children return with a right raucous new wave racket called 'X.ENC'. This 3 piece seem to have honed quite a formidable sound from some simple ingredients. Choppy, snidey shards of new wave guitar, broody growling bass, sharp snappy drums & possessed Cockney vocals. There's always been a subtle gothic tinge to their sound but now they're referencing PiL, Bauhaus, early Cure, Blur, Gang of Four, Swell Maps and XTC then rolling them up into one juicy post punk fat one and chuffing away happily. It's all pretty much a really good pastiche, much like The Horrors in a way except the good tune ratio on here is more consistent. Some spots do remind me of bands such as Twisted Charm but once again, the songs are well formed, catchy & mostly memorable. I disagree that this is the best "Underground London album of the last decade" but truth be told, they've pulled all the stops out & produced a satisfying, coherent and compulsive album out of the bag which so, so many bands fail to deliver these days. BTW Is it just me or does 'Indifference is Vital' remind you of Modern Romance? CD only on Structurally Sound.

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Sound clips for X.Enc by Neils Children: on CD at Norman Records UK. CD, Structurally Sound, SSNC002CD, £10.29.

What their label says...

Perfectly fusing the bands darker edges with more melodic sounds, this is one of the most exciting albums to come from the London underground scene in the past 10 years. Finally. It’s been a long wait but well worth it. The new Neils Children album ‘X.ENC’ (their debut album proper) has been honing itself in the isolation of a warehouse in Hertfordshire. The band returned to their hometown with a PC, microphones, guitars and drums to record there masterpiece. They describe the album as “the ultimate Neils Children record” and they’re not wrong. The album fuses their trademark vorticist post-punk (“Sometimes it’s Hard to Let Go”, “Communique”) with dark, tribal atmospherics (“An Exchange”) and all out post-Big Black noise (“Motorcar”). With influences ranging as far as A Certain Ratio, The Whispers, Alton Ellis and Josef K, the album is as dynamic as Neils Children promised is would be. The keyword here is: Progression. Keep up.

Tracklisting : 1: Motorcar 2: Sometimes it’s Hard to Let Go 3: An Exchange 4: Communique5: Interlude 6: I Can’t See You 7: Indifference Is Vital 8: I’m Ill 9:  The Eyes of a Child10: Terror At Home11: People Change Their Minds.