Life Without Buildings
"Any Other City"
(DCBaltimore 2012)

My favorite new group is Scotland's Life Without Buildings, a band which doesn't sound all that odd given they are from the UK. All the usual suspects are involved in crafting their sound: Public Image Ltd., the Fall, Gang of Four, Kleenex. Yet in some way unbeknownst to me, their full length debut has struck me in a way that a lot of new records, from either side of the Atlantic, have not of late.

Their name evokes Talking Heads comparisons, which are definitely pertinent given that the band members met in art school, just like the famous 70s new wavers. However a more accurate description would fit somewhere along the lines of a female Mark E. Smith fronting Public Image Ltd. Perhaps that is why I have fallen prey to the stuttering delivery of Life's Sue Tompkins, I tend to do that with all things Fall-like (Pavement, Truman's Water, etc.). There are HUGE hooks on this record, courtesy of the brilliant interplay between guitarist Robert Johnson (no, he doesn't play the blues) and bassist Chris Evans.

This record first surfaced in the UK in 2001, and months later was picked up by a small label out of Athens called DCBaltimore 2012 for issue in the states. 2002 sees a second issuing of the record, as the group plans to tour the US extensively. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up.

--Karthik