- The music on This Desire / Same Day (Again) has been out before but only a lucky few have it. "Same Day (Again)," a track by Karl O'Connor credited to Karl And The Kurbcrawlers, was released on CD without a title in 2001. (It was later played at the beginning of Silent Servant's FACT mix in 2012.) "This Desire," a production by O'Connor and Veronica Vasicka, was released in an edition of 30 at a record fair in Brooklyn in 2013. Both tunes warrant a wider circulation.
"Same Day (Again)" brings to mind Joy Division's "Digital"—or any number of late '70s post-punk tear ups for that matter—with its neurotic reaction to the oppressive dreariness of everyday life. It sounds like a mind-numbing day job has caused the band to break out in a rash. Perhaps O'Connor chopped up an old live recording—it doesn't sound like it was produced in 1993. If it came out in, say, 1979 it would be considered a classic. Today, its energy is impossible to ignore.
"This Desire" is textbook latter-day Downwards, a modern echo of early '80s minimalistic machine punk. Vasicka's vocals are equal parts deadpan and longing, caught in the classic push and pull between isolation and lust. The pairing of a serrated yet simple bassline with a pitter-patter drum machine recalls Suicide, with the bass cranked up. Quiet guitar accents and key changes in the bass add drama, but the damage is done by the slinking rhythm and brooding atmosphere.
TracklistA Kiss The Floor - This Desire
B Karl And The Kurbcrawlers - Same Day (Again)