No Violet: No Violet

Since the dawn of the time, there has always been talk of genre revivals; the more music being made, the more it will be spoken about, illuminating the fine line between pastiche and artists wearing their influences on their sleeves.

There’s a lot to be said of just getting in the studio and having fun, too, and that’s what Bristol four-piece, No Violet, are all about. It helps that they write good songs, too. Ellie Godwin, Kerry Funnell, Peter Catada and Toby Stewart, already with an EP under their belt (2018’s Faces), and seven years later, they return with their energetic self-titled debut LP.

Recorded and mixed by Peter Miles at Middle Farm Studios with mastering duties falling to none other than Stephen Kerrison, No Violet’s bark is matched by their bite. All rush and roar that travels at high speeds, in many ways No Violet remind you of your youth while also remaining rampant in the now.

Beginning with the same eerie silence of listening to a Deep Fade song, on Wait a Minute, No Violet eventually pull away from the frontiers of doom, landing into the world of ’90s-inspired post-hardcore. And the results are grand. “Take it slow, wait a minute,” sings Godwin, kicking against the instant gratification of a modern world, and as the same metallic ring that David Pajo orchestrated on Spiderland rockets from the speakers, suddenly No Violet take us back to less complicated times.

Following is Around Again – gnarled alt-rocked with a split-personality, as the quiet / loud dynamics feel more like two feuding siblings being locked in a room to sort out their differences. It’s what happens when two songs are smashed into one, and while the dirge-y I Told You backburns through the terrains of alt-rock, Honesty, Honestly is where No Violet fuse it together with post-hardcore. A cataclysmic collision where rolling waves of melody, riff-a-rolla and sludge-laden distortion hit like a landslide.

Then there’s What’s About to Begin. Taking flight with post-rock atmospheres, the song is elevated by a thrumming rhythm section and blues-y guitars that ring deep in the ears. Which feeds into the aptly titled Migraine and later with Losing Sight. Built on stealth-like percussion, faintly both songs echo fellow Bristolians, Portishead, who with a little more brawn, may have sounded something like this in their formative years.

While post-hardcore and post-rock have been contaminated by a sterile London privilege scene that has been further watered down by the cash injection of big ‘indie’ labels, outside this mediocre slop, there have been acts like No Violet who have framed post-hardcore in far more vibrant, honesty ways.

Most importantly by not taking themselves too seriously. This is a band having fun. Songs like Around Again and Stop It, capturing Godwin’s exuberance at the end of each take with woops and cheers. It’s these snapshots that underline what DIY spirit is all about. The raw, unvarnished nature of artistic expression, and on their self-titled debut, No Violet hit it flush.  

No Violet is out now via Totality. Purchase from Bandcamp.