Vlimmer XIIIII

Stern, impassioned vocals, gothy-sounding synths, and brash 80s production form the meat of Vimmer's new EP 'XIIIII'. The EP seems to revel its own monochrome sensibility. There's no hiding the influences (the Cure, early Sisters of Mercy, Siouxsie and The Banshees, early Dead Or Alive) and at times this starts to get a bit stultifying, but I have got grudging respect for something so unashamedly retro-sounding. 

All the post-punk, goth hallmarks are on show here, such as the chorus-drenched guitars and skeletal drum machines. 'Fluchtlauf' is a real highlight. It's perhaps the only song that feels like its doing something fairly new, utilising blasts of hectic industrial percussion and EMB-inspired synth arpeggios. The whole EP is mired in that kind of disaffected, pretty irritating (you know I'm right) ennui that the Cure 'perfected' way back when.

In its best moments, 'XIIIII' is a consummate retrospective of a time when hair was big and moods were sombre, but in its worst it just feels like tracks from 'Pornography' that were probably rightly left on the cutting room floor. I bloody love 'Fluchtlauf' though and Vlimmer does the Cure better than the Cure ever did...