Warning no. 1: This is an extremely political album. If you don’t like to hear people ‘talking down Britain’, then this probably isn’t for you. Although, if that’s the case, you’re probably the most in need of hearing it (which is alluded to in Meat Teeth; as hard-hitting as this may be, there’s a recognition that this may just be a case of preaching to the converted).
Warning no. 2: This isn’t an easy listen. You know how easy listening is a recognised genre? Well surely the opposite of that is hard or difficult listening. Yet that sort of thing always gets dressed up as experimental, noise music, or whatever. But nah; this is hard listening. And that’s precisely the point.
If I can briefly make this about myself, I feel like I probably summed things up best in my previous single review, so I’m conscious of repeating myself (is difficult 2nd review syndrome a thing?) But actually that seems fitting because repetition is a key theme, or even technique, which is used throughout Nails.
“The repetition of mistakes” as it’s put in Mindset. It acts like holding up a mirror to the last ten years of political discourse (and really beyond that). Like how the same talking points get drilled into you – from politician’s mouths, to newspaper pages, and then from people you actually know. Like the bad-news-cycle of unrelenting shitness. It’s the feeling that you’ve seen it all before, yet it continues to happen, and the ensuing frustration and helplessness. The disillusionment because it all seems so obvious but people fall for it again. And it’s those feelings which Benefits want to smash through.
Another key theme is that of repressed rage, always bubbling away under the surface. Musically, it reveals itself in visceral howls and blasts of noise; like an ugly wall of sound. But again it’s representing something wider about the psyche of a nation. Anger at the world you see around you, and how that then becomes mis-directed and released in futile outbursts, like the road rage flashpoint described on Empire.
If I’m making this all sound a bit bleak, well it kind of is, but again that’s kind of the point. And that’s not the whole story as the album is injected with moments of dark humour, and ultimately, the album is trying to spread some positivity out of the gloom. As set out on opener, Marlboro Hundreds which almost acts as the album’s mission statement; “don’t let them break you”.
I feel like I’ve barely mentioned how the album actually sounds. Benefits have certainly proved they’re more than a one-trick-pony here as amongst the noise there’s plenty of minimalist electro interjected, which works well to balance things out, always providing some calm before or after the storm. And they even give a flash of sweet melancholia on closer, Council Rust. As a purely musical experience it arguably runs slightly long, given the repetition of certain ideas and lines. But this really shouldn’t be taken as a purely musical experience. It’s almost like a performance art piece; it’s part warning, part wake-up call, part catharsis, maybe even therapeutic.
I’m not sure how much I’ll go back to the album longer term (like, it’s hardly one I’m gonna play on a family car journey), but it’s such a powerful statement that it already has the potential to go down as a classic. You almost hope this will feel dated in another ten years. But, unfortunately, the lesson of the album suggests it probably won’t be. “The repetition of mistakes”
Rating:
Best tunes: Marlboro Hundreds, Flag, Council Rust
Note – this review was originally published on 22/04/2023 as part of a new music roundup post. It has been re-published separately here for archiving purposes.
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