EROTIC SECRETS OF POMPEII - ALBUM REVIEW

Erotic Secrets of Pompeii - Mondo Maleficum 

Release Date: 25th January 2024

Now then, it's time to get serious. Regular readers will know of my burgeoning love affair with Bristol collective Erotic Secrets of Pompeii but this is the zenith of that affair - the debut album. 'Mondo Maleficum' is an album packed full of outlandish song titles but that doesn't guarantee good music so let's take a deep breath, leave our hormones at the door and give this one an objective seeing to, shall we? The nightmarish ride down Willy Wonka's disused chocolate tunnel (oo-er missus) gets underway with 'Osiris At The Large Hadron Collider', a recent single that blends the instant appeal of the killers with performative vocals and an energy that is exciting and unsettling in equal measure. Keep your hands inside the ride at all times. 

Next up is 'The Wheel, The Spade, The Stars In Motion' (see what I mean about the titles?) which shudders in like a deleted song from the Mighty Boosh that was considered too unconventionally sexy to be included in the final cut. 'Faustina Filmed in Psychorama' is all about the thickest of bass lines that gurns and churns throughout before 'Venus Ascending' slows things down for an ivory tinkling, New Orleans black magic inspired turn about the dance floor with a lurching beat and swooning Southern style. The crunching guitars of 'Bad Weather At Beachy Head' and that hypnotic bass playing again make for lo-fi English horror soundtrack but then 'Utterly Rudderless' ratchets up the crazy with some frenetic guitar playing and vocals breathlessly trying to keep up. 

My favourite title on the album is the syllable-tastic 'Crocodilian' which belongs to a song full of dark 80s synth energy which blends elements of Gary Numan, the Killers again and the Cooper Temple Clause in a swirly cauldron of unknown intent. The delightful thing about ESOP is that they revel and luxuriate in their music but it never feels pointless or fruitless which is a fine (and dandy) line to walk. On 'Tenderness Has Failed Me', the Bristolians get all angular indie disco with hints of Franz Ferdinand, the Fall and Young Knives before 'Auguries & Auguries' lurches and stumbles like a Absinthe-drunk gentleman on his way to do no good in a Victorian alley but with a dapper suit and not a stitch out of place. The album bids adieu with 'The Unstitching of Everything', an almost prog-rock with a slitheringly sexy guitar hook and almost rapped vocals keeping you on the edge of your seat and looking over your shoulder. This is an outstanding album by a fast-rising British band but the fact that this is a debut makes it doubly, nay, triply impressive. Bravo, gentlemen. Bravo. 

More information: https://www.facebook.com/eroticsecretsofpompeii

Live dates: 

8th March - The Crofters Rights, Bristol

20th March - The Shacklewell Arms, London (FREE)

21st March - Voodoo Daddy's Showroom, Norwich

22nd March - The Old Bus Depot, Nottingham

23rd March - Aatma, Manchester

22nd May - The Junction, Plymouth

23rd May - Move Live, Exeter