HOT new signing on Y&C! PLAGUE PITS hail from the Swiss capital Bern and have continuously released numerous cassettes in mini editions since 2021. This album collects the best tracks composed in past 2 years and represents an ideal starting point! In PLAGUE PITS' self-description, it is made clear that the group is inspired by the DIY-(Electro)-New-Wave-sound of the early 80s and thus does not even try to come up with any "new" paraphrases for a well-known and popular sound. The cornerstones are likely to be old heroes like Fad Gadget, early Human League, the more experimental side of OMD and countless „Tape-Culture“-acts. This is New Wave in the original sense, but it doesn't shy away from offering catchy melodies.
The influences are diverse, like "The Numinous" sometimes has some Kraftwerk-moments, "Solid" could have been on one of the Absolute-Body-Control-tapes, "Disembodied" could be a Mark-Lane-song and "Golden Age of Carnage" is somewhere between early Gary Numan and John Foxx, which should make the song a sure hit at any Minimal-Synth-party. In "Poetry from the Future" you can even hear the typical John-Carpenter-soundtracks or influences from "The Blade Runner" soundtrack. The series of well-known bands from "back then" could be continued with Oppenheimer Analysis, The Klinik, Jeff & Jane Hudson or Indians In Moscow. Not to deny PLAGUE PITS a style of their own - which is guaranteed by the very unique vocals anyway - but because the band would simply fit into this row, if you didn't know that it's a current group.
In terms of production, however, they are up to date and use the latest technical possibilities, so that the feeling of old-fashioned imitation does not arise for a moment. For a long time there hasn't been an Electro-Wave-record that sounds so authentic and familiar but also modern... "Punishment & Extinction" will quickly find its way into the set lists of many DJs and will certainly do many rounds in many people's homes.
Released 2023 by Young & Cold Records.
Tracks Listing:
01. The Frozen Ground
02. Velvet Glove
03. Divide - Subtract
04. The Numinous
05. Solid
06. Golden Age of Carnage
07. Poetry From The Future
08. Exterminator
09. Punishment & Extinction
10. Disembodied
English