Accessible technology has rendered obsolete the necessity for large ensembles to make densely layered musical gestures. This truism is not lost on Wellington duo The Shocking and Stunning whose third release, We Will Fight You, is a frenetic example of this phenomenon. It purveys a frightening wall of noise that even The Skeptics might be envious of.
It is seldom that bands are able to describe their sound as succinctly as the Shocking and Stunning do. Yet Wall-of-Sound-Trance describes their music perfectly. Layer upon layer of fuzzy synths play dense beds and melodic hooks, underpinned by hi hat centric polyrhythms, creating a thick and atmospheric soundscape. It's a claustrophobic end result and it collapses the sound stage around the listener with remarkable consistency. 'Narrow Freak' exemplifies the band's atmospheric prowess well while 'The Worms Drink Blood' is like some kind of psyched Yngwie Malmsteen trance explosion.
With a strong DIY aesthetic, the Shocking and Stunning offer a perfectly proportioned bite of their style with this EP. A full-length release might benefit from a greater degree of variation however We Will Fight You is a good listen from a motivated and confrontational band.
