Heavy Breathing: A Brief Review Of The New Album From Activity (Ex-Peel Dream Magazine, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Russian Baths)

The new album from Activity opens with "In Another Way", a recent Video of the Week here. In the context of the full album, the number serves as a darkly compelling invitation to what follows on A Thousand Years in Another Way, the group's new one.

The vibe here is a blend of the best bits from the coolest records in your collection. For every number that seems to echo Interpol or Joy Division, there's another, like the sublime "A Piece of Mirror", that veers into more ethereal territory. The vocals here are lovely, while the textures are layered and complex. Fans of stuff like This Mortal Coil may find this one resonant. Elsewhere, "We Go Where We're Not Wanted" and the more rhythmic "Heavy Breathing" betray debts owed to Nineties-era Depeche Mode. The coda to the exquisite "Your Dream" churns with real malevolence, even as "I Came Here to Harm You" juxtaposes its title with a complex mix of shade and sweetness. Every cut here is superbly realized and pitched, and nearly everything on A Thousand Years in Another Way stands as a piece of the darkest hued post-punk.

Activity features vocalist and guitarist Travis Johnson (Grooms), bassist Bri DiGioia, guitarist Jess Rees (Russian Baths), and drummer Brian Alvarez (The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Peel Dream Magazine). There's not a ton that sounds like those bands, but I reckon that a fan of any one of them will likely find portions of this really engaging. Activity are masterful in creating a mood, a vibe, and an entire feeling with textures and layers of production effects and keyboards. My references to Interpol and Joy Division are fitting, but it must be stressed that Activity are not entirely a guitar band. There's moody pleasures to be had here, ones that will reward those who listened to goth and dark electronica in their youth. Heck, some of us still love that kind of thing. For those reasons, Activity's record is highly recommended. It offers up the sort of thing I spent I spent so much time seeking out when I was younger.

A Thousand Years in Another Way by Activity is out on June 6 via Western Vinyl.

More details on Activity via the band's Bandcamp page, or via the Western Vinyl Bandcamp page. The band's going to be playing some dates with FACS and Suuns and those sound like dream line-ups.

[Photo: Ebru Yildiz]