Narc. Magazine Online
Reliably informed
Luke Waller discovers a compelling debut from The Sick Man of Europe
The Leaf Label
Released 20.06.25
Much like their EP, Moderate Air Quality, released this February, The Sick Man of Europe’s eponymous debut album throbs with synth-saturated angst. Situated somewhere near the confluence of Bauhaus and Neu!, this album provides a mechanical, monochrome illustration of disaffection with modernity, taking the moods of the 1980s recession post-punk and applying them to today.
The album’s tone is established from the offset with its leading single Obsolete, which concerns the ‘illusion of progression’ and feeling left behind by modernisation devoid of humanity. Similar themes are explored throughout, notably on the melancholic Profane Not Profound. Whilst consistent in its atmospheric monotony, the Sick Man of Europe is perhaps overly successful at producing this effect, yet nevertheless represents a compelling musical manifesto.
