Having already proclaimed MONONEGATIVES the very best of the newest wave of post-punk/synth-punk, I did not imagine this London (Ontario)–based outfit had left itself room to make a second album twice as good as its first. Knowing that Crossing Visual Field was coming out, I figured I'd like it a lot, write a quick paragraph of effusive praise, and have the rest of my day to drink beer. But then I put the record on, and within moments found myself genuinely blown away. Not content to rest on their laurels, Rob Brake and company have upped their game on Crossing Visual Field. I heard the first song and was like, "Holy shit, how can they top this?" Then the same thing happened with the second song and every song until the end. I realized I was taking in an extraordinary work of art.
Like 2021's Apparatus Division, Crossing Visual Field is a record that puts the punk rock in synth-punk. Brake's chilling, apocalyptic synthesizers work in perfect harmony with sharp guitars, anxious rhythms, and vocals which are simultaneously robotic & anguished to create a soundtrack to our modern-day dystopia. Yet this particular album stands out because the songwriting is far more complex and accomplished this time around. It seems weird to describe music of this nature as "melodic," but I can definitely hear more developed and alluring melodies in this set of songs. And from start to finish, there's not a single sub-par track in sight. The thing about a MONONEGATIVES record is that you can always count on variety — sometimes even within a single track. Wherever your tastes on the synth/post-punk spectrum may lean, there's something on Crossing Visual Field for you. The album flows seamlessly between punk rippers ("Neutral Solution," "Outcome Unknown"), quintessential synth-wave numbers ("North Carolina Atomic Bomb," "Testing Capability"), and moodier tracks ("Disappearing Architecture," "Bel-Pre") that bring to mind the 1980s heyday of dark post-punk. Brake's ascent into synthesizer genius status (already made obvious on the new Telegenic Pleasure album) continues here. His compositions are creative and enthralling, evoking images of space warfare, factories of the apocalypse, and machines growing sentient. Yet in every case, these synthesized creations serve the song first and foremost. Could "Living in the Future" be any more of an anthem for our times? Crossing Visual Field sets the bar even higher for what contemporary synth-punk ought to be.
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