Bleep

Justin Sweatt pays full-colour homage to the synth on his fifth album under the Buffy the Vampire Slayer moniker. Moving on from the horror of Urban Gothic, Sweatt finds inspiration in the dystopian cities and suburbia of John Carpenter, Goblin and Angelo Badalamenti. The album veers between the chugging italo kraut of 'Buckle Bunny' and 'The Scarlet Deception' and the more ominous 'Predator States' and 'Dirts'. On first glance, it seems a strange choice for Rock Action, but Sweatt deftly treads the line between referential and naff, drawing the listener in with arpeggios, heavy bass and grainy, analogue beats which are then twisted and layered to create an often unsettling cinematic soundscape that chimes with the work of Coil, Chris and Cosey and Nurse with Wound.