Poem Rocket: LEND-LEASE EP

New York City’s Poem Rocket spent decade between the mid ’90s and ’00s churning out dream-laden alt-rock that flew under the radar.

A memory hole band for some, but with releases such as Psychogeogrpahy and Invasion!, going back all these years later, and it’s evident that the music of Poem Rocket still sparks the same senses today.

Like their contemporaries (think everything from Landing to Ida) there’s a soulfulness that frames a specific time. And while that still exists in across the new music landscape today, given its vastness and so little time to explore every corner, ultimately it’s harder to find. It can be quite demoralising, however it’s bands like Poem Rocket that remind you of why you fell in love with music in the first place, and their latest release, the LEND-LEASE EP only reaffirms that notion.

Spearheaded by the husband-and-wife duo, Michael Peters and Sandra Gardner, alongside drummer Peter Gordon and his Gapeseed bandmate Mike Knowlton, Poem Rocket emerge from the wilderness with LEND-LEASE – a lost release of sorts, which was recorded in 1999 and intended for public consumption between the two above-noted albums.

What has always made Poem Rocket essential listening is the vocal trade-offs between Peters and Gardner. Their quite/loud contrasts, like melody through the miasma. It’s always been the band’s greatest strength, and two decades on that doesn’t change. On opening cut and lead single, Depth Charge, the distortion rushes through the speakers as chiming, melodic dreamscapes and drones instantly light up the room.

The swerving moodscape in Vera Shore follows, as Peters reaches the same crescendos that Brett Anderson has maintained throughout Suede’s ongoing renaissance. There’s no revivalist mentality here though, and while the ghouls of post-hardcore are fleeting, what Poem Rocket deal in is a hybridisation of post-punk and post-hardcore made for road trips rather than sweaty crowds full of bearded blokes.

Black Freighter Contraband takes it down a notch. Poem Rocket has always had an acoustic-led number or two in their arsenal, and Black Freighter Contraband is another permeating with the kind of darkness June of 44 explored through environmental themes during their earlier works. Here, Peters parts with a tale illuminating the high seas and all the danger it brings. Whether it be a metaphor or a backdrop to Jack London’s The Sea-Wolf is completely up to one’s own interpretation.

On closing cut A.R.P. (Air Raid Protection), Poem Rocket are at full force. With a bass line akin to bolts rumbling across the train lines, rolling at speed and Poem Rocket save their best for last, occupying the space between the grandeur of The Chameleons and the dark underbelly of EVOL-era Sonic Youth.

The only problem with LEND-LEASE is that there isn’t more, and while it may be a lost recording that has been finally liberated, speaking of, and it may just be the gateway for those yet to delve into the world of Poem Rocket.

For those who have, however, LEND-LEASE is a reminder just how vital a thread Poem Rocket were to the patchwork of underground music culture, and with new music on the horizon, they still will be when that time comes.

LEND-LEASE is out Friday via Silver Girl Records. Purchase here.