Music Review | Lords of Acid ‘Pretty In Kink’
Industrial-techno outfit Lords of Acid dropped Pretty In Kink in May of 2018. The album features a dozen electro-techno tracks, along with a new line-up of musician and a new vocalist.
Made up of Praga Khan (synths, programming, backing vocals), Galen Waling (drums), Erhan Kurken (guitars, synths, programming), Doggy Dave (bass), and Marieke Bresseleers (lead vocals), Lords of Acid continues to rotate through a constant influx of new cast members. During the band’s 2017 tour, the vocalist was DJ Mia, while the 2010 tour utilized the vocals of Lacey Skulls.
When Lords of Acid first appeared on the scene in 1988, their sound was innovative and shocking, especially because of the blatant vulgarity of the lyrics. Now, though, 30-years later, the lyrics and sensuous textures of the synths are almost blasé, particularly when compared to Cardi B, Nicki Minaj and other female hip-hop artists who are notorious for lyrical references to the female procreative organ.
The best track on Pretty In Kink is probably the opening track, “Break Me,” a stylized techno-dance tune that’s more a movie soundtrack than anything else. Although I do like Waling’s drumming style, tight and crisp, with a flat-sounding snare and round tom-toms.
The sampled intro to “Goldfinger” lacks creativity, and then flows into a stuttering industrial-flavored tech beat prior to returning to the smarmy sample from the James Bond movie. The juxtaposition of the retro-pop colors of the original and the grinding techno-groove comes across as conduct stinking of secularity, while at the same time trying to inject sex-Magick mysticism into the harmonics.
In short, the music has, unfortunately, become mechanical and predictable, a kind of mannered technological sonic creation that’s dull and boring.
For those still enamored of industrial techno-beats and fatuous references to sex, Lords of Acid will be on tour in 2019.
Pretty In Kink 2019 Tour Dates:
02/21 @ Club Red - Phoenix, AZ *
02/22 @ The Regent Theatre - Los Angeles, CA *
02/23 @ Brick By Brick- San Diego, CA *
02/24 @ UC Theatre - Berkeley, CA *
02/26 @ Dante's - Portland, OR
02/27 @ Showbox SODO - Seattle, WA
03/01 @ The Complex - Salt Lake City, UT
03/02 @ Gothic Theatre - Denver, CO
03/03 @ Granada Theater - Lawrence, KS
03/05 @ Cabooze - Minneapolis MN
03/06 @ Miramar Theater - Milwaukee, WI
03/07 @ Bottom Lounge - Chicago, IL
03/08 @ Agora Theatre - Cleveland, OH
03/09 @ Buick City Events Center - Flint, MI
03/10 @ Rex Theatre - Pittsburgh, PA
03/11 @ Theatre Of Living Arts - Philadelphia, PA
03/12 @ Gramercy Theatre - New York, NY
03/13 @ Brighton Music Hall - Boston, MA
03/15 @ Soundstage - Baltimore, MD
03/16 @ Underground at The Fillmore - Charlotte, NC
03/17 @ Masquerade - Atlanta, GA
03/18 @ Culture Room - Ft Lauderdale, FL
03/19 @ The Orpheum - Tampa, FL
03/21 @ House of Blues - New Orleans, LA
03/22 @ Scout Bar - Houston, TX
03/23 @ Trees - Dallas, TX
03/24 @ Come and Take it Live - Austin, TX
03/26 @ Sunshine Theater - Albuquerque, NM
03/27 @ Hard Rock Live - Las Vegas, NV
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