Review Summary: unnerving textures and paranoid grooves
Ritchot Textiles are a new three piece band from Canada, born from the ashes of post-punk band Blessed, and comprised of long term collaborators who have been making music together under various monikers for twenty odd years. This might be Ritchot Textiles debut EP, but their time tested chemistry is made abundantly clear as the trio cooks up a palette of unnerving textures and paranoid grooves to captivate the listener in a state of unease.
i feels like a collection of soundscapes for an uncanny valley type of psychological horror, where everything just feels
off. Picture frames have been flipped upside down, everyone you meet has the same glazed over expression, and you swear that bass boosted Honda Civic with the tinted windows has been following you since you left the house. Just listen to the blown out subwoofer attack during the closing track "Hero" before you throw me in the loony bin. It feels rare to hear a band that so effortlessly stimulates the imagination and allows the listener to devise their own story in this way. Vocals are present in the mix, but they are obscured with reverb, and Riekman’s delivery is more like that of a distant antagonist — not so concerned with selling us a narrative, but still omnipresent, like a fabric weaved into the atmosphere.
Whether it's the opening track "Heaven", creeping in with hair-raising synthesizer stabs and an anxious post-punk rhythm, or the follow up "Weight", which utilizes gripping hypnotic repetition as a vessel for tension building (I can't remember the last time I heard a riff repeat for five minutes straight without getting bored), each of these five songs bring something fresh to the table, setting the stage for whatever nerve-racking sleep paralysis chase sequence you can fathom. Maybe I'm projecting my own fears onto the band's music after a few late nights spent reading Solaris, but the common thread that holds these songs together seems to be an odd sense of dissociation from reality, especially during cuts like “Sense Of” and the aforementioned “Hero”. It's not without its fun factor though, these tracks are stylish, groovy, and imaginative in the way they approach building atmosphere. Whether I'm losing my mind or not, Ritchot Textiles have hit a home run with their debut release, and I hope it won't be too long until we get the next chapter. Throw this on for your next walk in the dark, and try not to look over your shoulder.
