Factory Floor
Planning Application

5
...according to our Brian on 23 October 2008.

I heard the debut Factory Floor 7" a while back and was kinda impressed by their densely atmospheric & icy new wave. They've got a new 12" jobber out called the 'Planning Application' EP and they've been delving well deep into the esoteric vaults of the post-punk era. On the startlingly percussive & brittle 'Taxidermist', they've kinda melded Killing Joke & lost 4AD spartans In Camera into a chilling, tribal onslaught with the most grumpy, tuneless bass throbs, a tentative, searching organ line ala New Order and quietly intoned monotone vocals. 'Post is Here' is coming more from the Pop Group/Artery/Bauhaus school of post dub atmospherics and discordant guitar shards, rattling percussion and snaky effects making an extremely authentic pastiche of the era's forgotten fringe pioneers. Side 2 goes from echo laden Martin Hannett drums underpinned with hypnotic aquatic bass shapes to a Wire-y maelstrom of scratchy guitar. And there's more but no time to tell. A brilliant homage, the production's amazing. I really like the dismbodied track 4 with vocals from Nik Void which sounds like Joy Division crossed with Meanwhile Back in Communist Russia! It's a grand EP is this and if yr in thrall to those dark days, then Factory Floor are your new fave band. Well art-rock.............

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What their label says...

Factory Floor release their first EP 'Planning Application' - a
diverse collection of samples, audio glimpses and five songs that take
in subjects as varied as painters, Siberian survival and childhood
memories of taxidermist neighbours. The group's sound still has the
same eclecticic juxtaposition of hypnotic basslines, pounding drums,
abrasive guitars and synthesised sounds with ambient serenity as seen
on their last release, but have shifted focus slightly to take in dub,
polyrhythmic patterns and even a hint of electronic dance. Eccentricly
British as it is varied; this could not have come from anywhere else.
Produced by the group, it's a statement of intent - Planning
Application is a body of work that demands to be heard as one. Every
track stands out, but the EP itself stands out more.