Key Tracks: “Modernism,” “Baby, Are You Abstract?”

Over the past six years, I’ve been writing over at Allston Pudding, where I’ve become more and more entrenched in the local New England music scene. It’s been rewarding in many ways, one of which is finding artists and subsequently becoming friends with them. One of my favorite local artists is dance-punk group Perennial, who I’ve now had the pleasure of interviewing three times. But I didn’t get a true chance to write about their phenomenal new album Modernism, and I’ve been trying to restart this blog, so hey what’s one more Perennial piece? I’m already covering them perennially as it is! Sorry. Sorry!

The music made by Perennial is often very simple, yet the influences are extremely difficult to nail down. The band (Chad Jewett on guitar and vocals, Chelsey Hahn on electric organ and vocals, Ceej Wolf on drums) channel dance-punk and cite The Hives and Be Your Own Pet as influences – that much is obvious. But underneath the walls of guitar and duo vocals, there’s mod, there’s R&B, there’s free jazz, there’s krautrock, there’s…etc. If it was left of the dial in the 60’s and 70’s, it’s in there. The band’s appreciation of things like old jazz don’t always come through in the tunes, especially on Modernism, but you can almost feel the inspiration instead of hear it.

The band’s first three albums were already super high-energy, but their fourth feels the most feral. The album is largely stripped of the quieter, experimental ditties that splice through the tracklists of their first three records. Instead, we get almost nothing but ten straight punk bruisers. The title track starts the album with a bang, as the most chaotic mod song you’re likely going to hear all year. There are some songs like “The Shadow” and “What’s New On The Beat Scene?” that I can only describe as classic Perennial – short, blistering dance-punk songs with rough vocals that are also far more magnetically fun than any of those words imply. The closing song, all 1:12 of “Emma Peel,” is the closest Perennial have gotten to hardcore. It’s a ferocious ending tune, to cap off an already chaotic record.

But it isn’t all pummeling guitars, either. “Granny Smith Apple” is a poppier and more experimental song that harkens back to the 60’s influence more than any other song on the album. The album also includes the previously released song “Baby, Are You Abstract?” which is more mod than anything else on the record, and also arguably the band’s best song to date. “Cloak & Dagger” also features a more left-field organ segment from Hahn that takes from the band’s krautrock sensibilities. And, there are a few songs that still feature audioclips or abstract outros that can serve as a breather in between the bangers. Trust me, you need the breathers. The album is only a second over 20 minutes, but they use practically every single moment.

Perennial is as infectiously fun as they are cacophonous and loud. Their music pulls from many different genres – and, crucially, film and physical art – while sounding mostly like a 00’s dance-punk heyday. It’s been a pleasure of mine to watch them expand onto an international stage on the basis of their explosive live shows, and hopefully Modernism can help continue that trend. At ten songs and only twenty minutes, it’s the most assaulting burst of fun you’ll have this year.

Modernism comes out this Friday, 9/18, and can be pre-ordered on Bandcamp.