Pestilent Planet is Clock of Time’s first ever release. That’s right, baby, straight onto vinyl! I don’t know if Tom Ellis is a gambling man – his native country is clearly a gambling nation – but releasing this 12” was a save bet considering the line-up here. Clock of Time is an assemblage of expats residing in Berlin among which Corey former drummer of Vexx, Stiff Love and G.L.O.S.S., and Seth Sutton of the Useless Eaters, Life Trap, Couteau Latex, POW and many others. Furthermore I’m pretty sure Clock of Time’s singer used to hold the mic for Diät - How many Australians singing for post-punk bands can there possibly be in Berlin? What I’m trying to say is these kids are not new to song writing and it shows.
Clock of
Time is fairly reminiscent of the singer’s former band. Stylistically Diät as
well as Constant Mongrel, LowLife and Negative Gears are a fair frame of
reference for this album. Its 7 songs all have a solid melodic foundation in
the driving full bass lines over which the guitar displays it’s haunting magic.
The singer has a deep hypnotizing voice. His lyrics are bleak and reproachful.
At times they have a literary quality. A line like ‘the lack of conviction
takes the crack out the whip’ is undeniably poetic as is the opening line
of B-side opener ‘Pestilent Planet’; ‘The end of the decade marks the start
of our death-procession, as we commemorate the days devoid of worrying about
the weather.’ Merciless stabs are taken at contemporary society and its
implications for mankind, but they’re delivered in a very detached way. The key
emotion here is hopelessness. Don’t let the title ‘Something to look forward
to’ mislead you. If we are to believe Clock of Time there is very little to
look forward to. In their opionion this pestillent planet is beyond saving and
humanity is fucked. In that sense this record has an almost Biblical
apocalyptic tone, a tone Nicky Rat’s artwork matches well with. Pestilent
Planet is a strong debut that demands your attention and invites multiple
listens. I’d love to hear more by this outfit.
Hear the thing here: https://staticshockrecords.bandcamp.com/album/pestilent-planet.
