Artist:	SPECTRES
Title:	Presence
Format:	CD
Year:	15.03.2024
Label:	Artoffact
Tracklist:	01 Presence 02 The Old Regime 03 AM Gold 04 Justice and the Cross 05 Real World 06 Waiting 07 Dominion 08 One Day 09 Chain Reaction 10 Falling Down 11 Start Again
Info:	Charming and dreamy, the new album ebbs and flows with thundering drums, vocals blended in with the other instruments with elegant texture and contrast, and ethereally layered bass and six string guitars. Sonically leaning into the band's pop and shoegaze influences, “Presence” has clear post punk and darkwave undertones and is sure to get the band's long standing fanbase itching to see SPECTRES live. Spectres have been on the forefront of the post punk genre resurgence since 2005, nearly two decades, and are commonly cited as kicking off the renewed interest in this sound we are seeing today. Emerging from the DIY Punk underground, Spectres vocalist and founder Brian Gustavson wanted to blend the grassroots and independent ethic of anarcho-punk with the anomie and cold, modulated sounds of 1980’s post punk and death rock. Though the band’s output has matured with time to embrace a wider range of new-wave and shoegaze influences their ethos remains rooted in anarcho punk. The blending of these influences allows for the curious juxtaposition of 80’s influenced pop sensibilities with lyrics that explore the alienation and cynicism of modern life and the search for hope in an increasingly terrifying world. One of the band’s core strengths is its sonic aesthetic, which ranges from brooding and confrontational dark punk to ethereal pop influenced dance anthems. Spectres’ live show harkens back to their punk origins bringing a direct and aggressive approach to their performances intended to convey a feeling of estrangement and urgency to the audience. After working with several different DIY labels over their first 12 years as a band, Spectres signed with Artoffact records in the summer of 2018 and released a number of highly successful albums since.