Dork
  • Music News
    • Latest News
    • Album Release Schedule
  • Features
    • Features & Interviews
    • Artist Guides
    • In Photos
  • New Music
    • Hype
    • Hype News
    • Hype Features & Interviews
    • Hype Reviews
  • Playlists
    • Playlists
    • Dork Playlist
    • The Cut
    • Hype
      • Cover Story
      • Hype Playlist
  • Reviews
    • Album & EP Reviews
    • Live Reviews
  • Radio
    • Home
    • Shows
      • Down With Boring
    • Playlist
    • Listen Again
    • Podcast
      • Apple Podcasts
      • Spotify
      • Google Podcasts
      • Stitcher
      • aCast
      • TuneIn
  • Magazine
    • Latest Issue
    • Back Issues
    • Print Subscriptions
    • Print + Digital Subscriptions
  • Shop
  • Supporters
    • Support Dork
    • Supporter Only Content
    • Digital Library
HTML5 RADIO PLAYER PLUGIN WITH REAL VISUALIZER powered by Sodah Webdesign Dexheim
Dork
  • Music News
    • Latest News
    • Album Release Schedule
  • Features
    • Features & Interviews
    • Artist Guides
    • In Photos
  • New Music
    • Hype
    • Hype News
    • Hype Features & Interviews
    • Hype Reviews
  • Playlists
    • Playlists
    • Dork Playlist
    • The Cut
    • Hype
      • Cover Story
      • Hype Playlist
  • Reviews
    • Album & EP Reviews
    • Live Reviews
  • Radio
    • Home
    • Shows
      • Down With Boring
    • Playlist
    • Listen Again
    • Podcast
      • Apple Podcasts
      • Spotify
      • Google Podcasts
      • Stitcher
      • aCast
      • TuneIn
  • Magazine
    • Latest Issue
    • Back Issues
    • Print Subscriptions
    • Print + Digital Subscriptions
  • Shop
  • Supporters
    • Support Dork
    • Supporter Only Content
    • Digital Library
  • Album & EP Reviews

Phobophobes – Modern Medicine

  • Ciaran Steward
  • June 24, 2021

Label: Modern Sky
Released: 25th June 2021


Since beckoning listeners into ‘The Never Never’ with their breakout third single in 2017, Phobophobes have risen from their South London roots to become one of the UK’s leading psych-fuelled entities. Their warped soundscapes continue to impress, and for their second album, there’s no sense of normality in these twisted, rapturous creations that somehow playful as they drag those listening through a dark fantasy like no other.

The seductive yet menacing opener ‘Hollow Body Boy’ is an indicative slice of what’s to come, with modulated melodies swirling away as they back up that unnerving, measured vocal delivery. Within all the darkness is a constant twist of humour and fun, as can be found in the jauntiness of ‘Blind Muscle’, which feels a polar opposite to the track that precedes it – a song much more suited to sharing with the masses. There’s even space for three-chord ‘ballad’ ‘I Mean It All’, which delicately details a somewhat melancholic take on a failed new love.

Life, loss and wider musings on the human condition and society as a whole are considered by the tantric outfit as they make the most of the studio tools at their disposal to manufacture sounds that feel unearthly, or perhaps more accurately as if they were created from somewhere considerably close to the Earth’s molten centre.

Phobophobes consistently have an impressive ability to unsettle the listener, and recent line-up changes haven’t deterred them from their mystic journey into musical wizardry. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, for if one does, they might just miss the greater artistic vision he creates with tumbling organs, tainted riffs and a voice that routinely cuts to the very core.

Ciaran Steward
4.0 rating
4/5
Total Score
Related Topics
  • Phobophobes
You May Also Like
View Post
  • Features

Fall Out Boy: “Going deep with people that care feels so much more important than going wide”

  • March 24, 2023
View Post
  • Features

Sabrina Carpenter: Pop hits

  • March 22, 2023
View Post
  • Music News

Ben Howard has announced a huge 2023 UK and European tour

  • March 20, 2023
Latest issue
Latest
    • Music News
    Bimini shares first music of 2023 with ‘Rodeo’
    • Music News
    Ed Sheeran has dropped his new single, ‘Eyes Closed’ – watch
    • Music News
    MAY-A has shared a new single, ‘Your Funeral’
    • Music News
    BLOXX are back with a new EP, and early teaser-track ‘Television Promises’
    • Music News
    boygenius have announced a few global listening events, plus a Banquet out-store show

Subscribe to our newsletter

Get pop nonsense to your inbox.

Dork
  • Contact
  • Jobs
  • Privacy
© 2016-2021 The Bunker Publishing Ltd

Input your search keywords and press Enter.