Sex Cells are a London duo producing fascinating angular and paranoid synth-based music. Matt Kilda and Willow Vincent seem to have turned financial disaster into musical triumph having been ripped off in a housing rental scam. With every track on this impressive debut album, they demonstrate their mastery of their chosen genre. They started out as promoters, influenced by the likes of Wendy Carlos and Suicide, and their music pulsates with menace and melancholy.
‘That’s Life’ opens with the pulsating title track which features Willow’s punky vocal over Matt’s lower vocal line. The track drifts to a spacy conclusion. The second track “Deranged” is carried along on a great rhythm and hits the mark but it is on the third track “We Are Still Breathing” that Sex Cells show what they are truly capable of. This track gives us that early Ultravox meets the Psychedelic Furs feel with a great melody. It even has the audacity to quote Lou Reed (“Satellite of Love”). A slower, less frenetic pace showcases the band’s vocal abilities at their strongest.
Next track “Human Costume” takes us back to that frenetic, pumping feel which is clearly a speciality of this group. A very effective track to which the next track “Cruel Design” acts as a coda, this is as close to an instrumental as the band gets. “Fortress” is a return to the slower more melodic feel of “We Are Still Breathing”. A strong song with a beautiful melodic duet that shows the band’s songwriting strengths at their best. Final track “Hang the Flowers” is a fitting semi- instrumental close to this strong debut. This is an excellent debut album and I look forward to hearing and seeing more from this innovative and exciting duo.
Written by Paul Bamlett.
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