JENNY BESETZT
Jenny Besetzt does not shy away from a cathartic release. Just listen to the title tracks from their two full-length records—Only and Tender Madness—and it’s clear that the lean economy of their post-punk underpinnings is bursting with a poignant vulnerability. There’s a romanticism encoded in the band’s music, and an affinity to soften the sharper edges of their sound with cavernous vocals and dreamy synth arrangements.
Live the band has honed their ability to shatter an audience with a devastating turn of phrase or instrumental climax, creating space for vocalist John Wollaber’s thundering voice to resonate. The rhythm section of bassist Nathan Price and drummer Thomas McNeely pushes and pulls with a serpentine momentum through the intertwining currents of Dillon Myrick's synthesizers and Spencer Auten’s guitars.
As one continues to search for meaning in the increasingly confusing and fragile times in which we live, Jenny Besetzt takes us on a much-needed trip inwards—a path they walk with both vigor and grace.
il‘Tender Madness’ - #6 on Bandcamp’s Best 100 Albums of 2016 List:
“In the deluge of darkwave and post-punk that flooded Bandcamp in 2016, Jenny Besetzt stood out. Singer John Wollaber’s voice runs miles ahead of the sparse bass, guitar, and pulsating kick drum that chase it through the soundscapes of “Authoress Speech” and “Black Is the Night.” The songs feel like they were born in a gritty suburb of a European city in a previous decade—not necessarily from the research triangle of North Carolina, from which the band hails. What starts out as a dark questioning of existence ends up in a much lighter place by the end of the album—almost mimicking the evolution of Joy Division into New Order. The three closing tracks are ’80s teen film soundtrack pop perfection.”
-Bandcamp, Ally-Jane Grossan
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