Ist Ist Everything is Different Now EP

I don't know if it's part of living in Manchester or just spending my formative years listening to the music that bands like this are trying to ape, but you can hear a pretender within seconds. Make no mistake, Ist Ist are pretenders.

After a first track that sets up a decent mood, the following three tracks are a collection of robotic drums, high note bass lines and a synth that is doing very little other than filling space. Combine all of this with a purposeful baritone voice with dark lyrics and it all just sounds a little too Joy Division with all the edges smoothed off.

If it hadn't been for bands like Editors and the thankful death of 'indie' a few years ago now, there's a chance that Ist Ist would've made their way into the cultural consciousness unhindered, but I can't see it happening. There was a time when easy and commercial versions of the post-punk visionaries that came before them were storming the charts and many people felt that they were laying the foundations for something interesting, but we know now that this was nothing more than recycling something that was genuinely experimental. It would seem that Ist Ist didn't get the message.

In a post post-punk, post Mark E Smith world, we have to start expecting more of our young talent. This is not the best that Manchester has to offer, not by a long shot. If they want to create anything worth listening to, I suggest they do an Idles: rip it up and start again.