Partisan is post-punk in the vein of The Jam, The Wipers, and The Chameleons out of Belgium featuring ex-members of the bands Rise And Fall, Oathbreaker, and of course Maudlin. Unlike their self-titled debut EP that was released two years ago (which is a truly fucking sick blend of hardcore and post-punk if you haven’t listened to it btw), We Have Been So Terribly Betrayed has beautiful melodies over soft, dreamy post-punk, skirting the lines of shoegaze pretty damn often. It’s totally unlike anything they’ve done so far and I’m excited about the direction they’ve taken. The EP was just released on Hypertension Records, so let’s listen together! Don’t forget to smoke a bowl if you haven’t already, then hit play.
Opening track “You And I” is a great representation of what the band is capable of. It’s fast and energetic post-punk with a shoegaze chorus and a guitar lines that’ll just kill you inside. The lyrics and overall sound heavily reminds me of The Chameleons. The talent is obvious. I was shaking by the time the song was over.
Onto another favorite of mine, “No Last Surrender,” which immediately starts up fun (and that’s how we like it). The vocals come in like an anthem. They really have perfected the art of sounding both sad and upbeat. The minute-long interlude is one of my favorite things ever, you can just lose yourself in it.
“Change” has more delicious soundscapes in store for us. This song in particular gives me strong Wipers vibes, although the tone is softer. It has some surfy textures over noisey, feedback-y shoegaze. The lyrics are among my favorite on the EP (“Dark is the night / Where all souls die”). It’s sad and beautiful and I can’t get enough of it! “Sometimes” has a more prominent surfy Wipers vibe to it as well as some of the best fucking interludes on the whole EP. They’re utilizing their hardcore roots to their advantage. I would kill to see this live!
The energy mellows out significantly for “Forget”. It’s another song that feels like an anthem, but expressed in a completely different way from “No Last Surrender”. It’s more dramatic and depressing. I think of it as a modern post-punk/shoegaze “Torn Curtain” by Television with several extra layers. Final track “I Have Always Loved You” leaves a powerful impression. It’s a good chunk of Jim Jones’ suicide tape with sad, mesmerizing, dreamlike guitar. It puts you in a dissociative trance that almost makes Jones’ words seem beautiful all the way up to the graceful fade-out. It’s frighteningly fitting for the ending to such a record.
