Slow cooked gloomy post punk from the outer realms of the midwestern United States. Nine shuffling stabs of icy bleakness about the fog of existence, psychic waste and drifting aimless in the vein of DIÄT or some of the more brooding TOTAL CONTROL stuff carefully assembled over the last 4 years. We are pleased to welcome FALSE BROTHER to the only format that matters.

Our take: Kansas City’s False Brother weren’t on my radar before Iron Lung dropped this 12”, but it’s a great fit with the post-punk oriented bands on that label, particularly Diat and Total Control. While not as anthemic as either of those bands, False Brother has a sound that splits the difference between minimal synth and classic post-punk, reminding me of the early Human League tracks or moments of Joy Division’s Closer that seemed to foreshadow New Order’s later moves. The drum machine kicks with the power of dance music, but the rhythms stick to a slower, brooding tempo, with bass lines and synth noises traipsing across the abyss like mischievous ghosts. If you’re a fan of the aforementioned groups (or similar ones like Low Life or Constant Mongrel), this lodges its hooks in much the same way.