'Everything tastes like the bitter end,' sings Matt Fliegel in Ricochet. With its bright guitar lines, rumbling drums and catchy melody, this is the most accessible song on Arrangements, and perhaps in the entire oeuvre of his band Preoccupations. But of course, it never really gets cozy with this Canadian foursome, which until 2016 went through life as Viet Cong. The difference from previous albums
… is that this time Fliegel calls a spade a spade. Further on in prize song Ricochet, for example, he paints a grimly sharp picture of what the - inevitable - end looks like: 'The days are getting longer and drier and hotter, evaporating the last of the water.' Musically, Preoccupations does not explore new territory. Doom bands such as Joy Division, The Sisters of Mercy and Fields of the Nephilim are still the main influences. When the familiar ingredients - including moody keyboards and bass lines borrowed from New Order - fall neatly into place (Slowly, Fix Bayonets!) there is again much to enjoy. Unfortunately, Arrangements, like its predecessor New Material (2018), also contains some songs that drift along rather rudderlessly, until the bitter end. (RME)more
