When you think of Manchester and music, you probably think of Joy Division, The Smiths, Primal Scream, The Stone Roses, Oasis and the like. You probably don’t think about a female-fronted band cranking out noisy little nuggets of gritty garage-punk and new wave built from tightly twanging guitars, tensely twitchy beats, shimmery keyboards and post-girl group vocals delivered with plenty of swagger. But that’s exactly what you get on The Peculiar Smell of the Inevitable, the superb sophomore full-length from Chemtrails. Perhaps it’s time to readjust your thinking and embrace the inevitable.
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Punk Slime Recordings are proud to present the new album from the garage-punk and acid-corroded new-wave outfit that is Chemtrails. Having started life as the lo-fi bedroom recording project of romantic partners Mia Lust and Laura Orlova back in 2016 Chemtrails quickly set about releasing two digital-only EPs before making their album debut in early 2018 with Calf of the Sacred Cow. Another EP, Cuckoo Spit, was released on 12” vinyl late the same year and Chemtrails spent 2019 working on their next full-length, which is now finally here. The Peculiar Smell of the Inevitable is the band’s heaviest and wildest record yet, with their trademark big melodies and harmonies performed over a frenzied wall of raw guitar noise and glistening synths.”
