Drahla - Useless Coordinates

Bandcamp Daily

The London-via-Leeds trio ramp up post-punk’s trademark noisiness, for songs that dive deep into the red.

The Guardian 80

(Captured Tracks)
Leeds trio’s potent first album takes rugged-but-cerebral post-punk on a propulsive, saxophone-tinted journey

‘Ancient Egypt in the palm of my hand,” sings Luciel Brown on Pyramid Estate. Claiming to wield the power of an entire civilisation is a hell of a bold gambit for a band’s first album. But the rugged post-punk of Drahla’s Useless Coordinates is so potent, it might just raise the pharaohs right out of their tombs. The Leeds three-piece – Brown (vocals/guitar), Rob Riggs (bass) and Mikey Ainsley (drums) – forge their arrangements from scratchy-yet-melodious chord progressions, riffs more jagged than a mountain range, mean basslines and their singer’s hushed yet swaggering performance. Like their most obvious stylistic ancestors, Sonic Youth, everything feels primal and instinctive, chaotic but controlled.

Pitchfork 77

The ferocious London trio treat post-punk like a game of Tetris, joyfully flipping and rearranging the elements into new patterns.