Spectres

Spectres

Utopia

Deranged

Spectres’ third album, Utopia is an eight-song offering of gloomy and compelling gothic post-punk. In recent years, the Vancouver five-piece has developed a more nuanced sound. Singer Brian Gustavson pushes his vocals into higher ranges, adding a more dynamic cast to the material; the complex guitar lines and melodies are more shimmering and atmospheric; Nathan Szilagyi’s driving bass provides a firm underpinning. On tracks like “Strange Weather”—originally intended to be the title of their last LP—Mitch Allen’s drumming chops shine through brilliantly. Put bluntly, the LP is a magical post-punk masterpiece: while the group’s earliest work had a gritty Warsaw / Crisis feel, Utopia is a lush and shimmering document of doomy greatness, firmly in the ballpark of The Sound or early 4AD output. Discover one of the crowning albums of the current post-punk and death rock revival.