This was what the future was supposed to sound like.  The initial rise in the use of machines in music over 30 years ago was reflected in the TV and film culture of the time – a dark, cyberpunk influence, all Terminator tech noir, predicting a futuristic, electronic hybrid of the mechanical and the gothic to be our soundtrack to the post-nuclear apocalypse.

Los Angeles duo Vain Machine remind us that this sort of music is still out there although not quite in the mainstream as may have been predicted.  This will suit them fine as it is precisely the sort of throbbing decadent sound that is going on at an underground club venue you probably know nothing about.

Vain Machine draw inspiration from all the influential industrial, ebm artists you would expect: VNV Nation, De/Vision, KMFDM and Nitzer Ebb.  Their debut release for Analog Trash label, “Push” is driven by pulsating dark arpeggios with bright euphoric synths flickering in and out, an occasional neon rush to change the tone.  It will suit you whether you want to get up and dance or just sit in the dark wallowing in moody introspection.

“Push” comes with three remixes, the David Burdick remix gives the song a clubbier vibe, while the Slave Unit remix adds bass guitar to drive it and a heavier guitar in the chorus to give it a classic industrial rock feel reminiscent of acts like Gravity Kills.  The final remix makes the vocal stand out a bit more and its glitchy percussion-tinted electro-rock makes you wonder what happened to Duran Duran influenced acts like The Faint and Inaura.

So the future saw boybands like One Direction rather than Sigue Sigue Sputnik but the mainstream is often wrong and uninformed.  There is an alternative and we have the technology to discover it so push yourself to use it!

“Push” is available on Bandcamp now!

 Vain Machine on the web:
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