By Oliver Shasha
With their new single ‘The Strangest Ritual’, Victoria punk rockers The This give a concise response to the question that their upcoming LP ‘Why Did We Chose Rock Music’ poses. Just 2 minutes and 23 seconds in length, The This is a catatonic whirlwind of melody and emotion. A hypnotically repetitive intro that chugs along like Jack White on an LSD trip, the song instantly injects a strong vocal and bass dynamic that entices the listener with it’s adventurous fluidity, dancing on what feels like a fretboard the length of an orthodox didgeridoo.
The simple structure and instantaneous character of ‘The Strangest Ritual’ makes an apparent engagement with more accessible realm of punk rock. By no means intricate in musical form, but still volatile in attitude, this is punk that attributes its purpose to the expression of an inherent message from the artists to the consumers, and less concerned with the musical contribution to a style or a genre. Based on the exploits of ‘The Strangest Ritual’, it’s safe to say that the raucous energy of The This is one to definitely catch in the live environment.
Listen to ‘The Strangest Ritual’ here: