Hailing from the gritty streets of Southeast London, the self-proclaimed »drug band with a rock problem,« Fat White Family, has long struggled to capture the electrifying chaos of their live shows in their studio recordings. Their gigs are a wild pendulum swinging between unadulterated mayhem and exorcism, shamanic ritual and black mass, all set to the backdrop of post-punk and lo-fi wave on their first three albums. With their fourth album, »Forgiveness Is Yours«, the remaining family members, now fronted by vocalist Lias Saoudi, following the departure of co-founder Saul Adamczewski, continue down the path of refinement hinted at on their previous release, »Serfs Up!«. Gone are the screamed provocations, replaced by hushed whispers; the guitars take a backseat to synths; and theatrical playfulness supersedes raw nihilism. The eleven new tracks show off their newfound extravagance and versatility. They include a spoken-word poem intro, a nightmarish bossa nova on »Visions Of Pain,« and even a quirky disco-pop number in »What’s That You Said.« With a heavy dose of cynicism laced with Nazi and BDSM aesthetic (see the wonderfully horrifying video for »Bullet Of Dignity«), their tirades against the state of Britain and their own personal abysses are reminiscent of a left-wing Monty Python on a particularly bad acid trip. While the core elements of self-deprecation and despair remain, they’re now accompanied by a heightened sense of theatrical performance and an even darker dose of gallows humour.
Beth Gibbons
Lives Outgrown
Domino