The basis of every track here is the loud, pummelling drums and gnarled and grizzly bass riffs that just propel each song along with so much energy and aggression. Layered on top is the relentless lead guitars and Talbots sung / shouted vocals that sound somewhere between jaded sarcasm and complete fury. Despite the sheer intensity and volume of these songs, they're actually constructed in quite a delicate way to accentuate the bouncy grooves or the more post-punky elements such as the electronic and industrial parts of the tracks Grounds and Reigns. Anxiety slowly gains tempo and becomes more chaotic and noisy as the track progresses, reflecting the themes within the song. The lyrics of the album are as equally relentless as the instrumentation, raging over one socio-political grievance after another. The aforementioned Anxiety addresses the complete lack of control over ones life someone can feel in current society and how it can feel overwhelming to simply exist sometimes. Reigns and Carcinogenic slam down on class inequality and War is aggressively anti-war. Joe essentially declares war on war with the opening line, "THIS MEANS WAR".
Some of the tracks take themselves slightly less seriously, and are probably the most straightforward punk on the album. However they don't feel as consistently impactful as the more aggressive and serious songs. Model Village is excellent, and something I can relate to well, growing up in a village filled with stuck up gammons like the ones described in the song. The surf-rock guitar solo is also a load of fun too. Mr. Motivator and Ne Touche Pas Moi aren't quite as impactful though. Mr. Motivator takes the piss out of the idea that you have to always be motivated and productive, and is a fun song, but lacks depth of some of the other tracks on the album. Ne Touche Pas Moi is a track about toxic masculinity and how women are often treated in public from the perspective of a women. You can tell from the performances that the band are leaning into the irony that they're a bunch of middle-class white guys singing the song from the perspective of a marginalised person, and Jenny Beth from Savages does provide backing vocals; but something about the song that just feels a little off. It's like the message of the song feels slightly forced, compared to some of the other statements on the record.
The only real slowdown on the record is the penultimate song, A Hymn. This track is a moody and atmospheric post-punk slow burn, which builds in intensity as Talbot repeatedly sings "I wanna be loved, everybody does". It's about as personal and emotional as the record goes, and does a great job functioning as a bridge between the political rage of the other tracks and genuine human emotion outside of that bubble. This leads into the loud and thunderous closer, Danke, which returns to the choppy and raw post-hardcore instrumentation, but sticks with the emotional themes of A Hymn, with Joe declaring "True love will find you in the end". Its a hopeful way to end a record that's for the most part very angry and discontent.
Ultra Mono is a brutal 40 minutes of ferocious but carefully constructed rage, and I think its great. I've heard that the record hasn't been met with quite the same level of praise that the band's first two albums were, so I'm really intrigued about how good those albums must be if Ultra Mono is considered a bit weaker.
Top Tracks: Grounds, Anxiety, Model Village, Carcinogenic, Reigns, The Lover, A Hymn
8/10
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