PAAR

Not sure that I've featured a band from Germany before - so what better time to put that right than now?

PAAR are Klyng and Eres, who having hung around in the same circles for a number of years discovered that they shared similar musical tastes that ranged from classic eighties new-wave and post-punk to modern electronic and experimental /punk, and so decided - as you do - to form a band and write and record music together. After a series of minimalist electronic demos the duo honed in on a sound that is an intriguing mix of electronic beats, minimal synths with the added texture of guitar and bass, all topped by Klyng's distinctive lyrics and vocals...

The pair released a trio of trio of digital singles last year; kicking-off with "Pure"/ "She brings the rain", "Arinna" / "I will disappear" before closing the year out with "Syn" / "I and I."

"Pure" is a rather compelling slice of dark industrial synth-rock meets goth (I believe they call it 'dark-wave'). Over monotonic beats - that are eerily reminiscent of early Human League - and deeply resonant bass, Klyng's unnerving yet strangely soothing disembodied vocals invade the senses as haunting synths and reverbed guitar fill in the gaps, adding texture and a splash of colour to an otherwise monochromatic landscape. If Blade Runner had been set in a dystopian future Berlin rather than LA, this would be the soundtrack playing in the nightclub where Decker goes to 'retire' Zhora.

The song is coupled with "She brings the rain", the pair's interpretation of a song by German experimental rock band Can. Having listened to the original, the pair remain quite faithful to the melody, but add beats, distorted and reverbed bass which threaten - but never quite manage - to over-power synths to once again create a distinctive late seventies-early eighties soundtrack. However, whereas the vocals of "Pure" were ethereal and detached, here the voice adapts to a sixties psychedelic-rock pitch. I can't say that Can were ever high on my required listening list, but the combination of psychedelic-hued vocals and industrial synth-rock makes PAAR's cover essential listening.

The pair describe "Arinna" as an experimental piece - adding music around a previously recorded vocal track. Strangely compelling and with a unique haunting beauty, the track is built on a deeply resonant and echoing beat which is the focal point of an otherwise sparse soundtrack. However, it's actually Klyng's slightly discordant vocals, always seemingly looping back to the same place, which not only concentrate the attention but - siren like - draw the listener in.

But it's from here on you begin to hear - sense - the pair's  progression to a more textural, layered - and it has to be said - indie / synth-pop sound. "I will disappear" is a captivating slice of melancholic, introverted dream-pop that gentle meanders at its own pace. There's nothing that particularly complicated here - there's a relaxing bass groove that you can't fail to home in on, reverbed guitar, synths; Klyng's ethereal vocals sigh and sway in the breeze - proof that you don't need to effects-laden and over-produce the shit out of a song to make something special.

And there's more evidence of PAAR's more expansive and confident sound on the latest record. "Syn" veers towards dancy synth-pop with a pulsating beat that could have been lifted from "Dare" era Human League (I half expected the song to morph into "Sound of the crowd"), before Eres' resonant bass regains control. And while layered and airy synths swirl like mist, it's Klyng's vocals - slightly breathless, slightly discordant - that once again anchor the sound. This is synth-pop, but it's very much synth-pop that you dance to with your ears. All of which is contrasted by "I and I." Here you get the impression that the pair have been listening to Joy Division and the first New Order album ("Movement") - there's that same captivating soundscape; repetitive beats, repetitive bass loops, reverbed and distorted guitars - it's a darkly atmospheric slice of post-punk redux, one which mirrors the 'light' of the more up-beat "Syn."



PAAR create a very monochrome sound, which - especially with "Pure" - invites comparison with Vowws. Both paint with a monochrome palette, both can create cinematic soundtracks; but whereas Vowws' belongs to the desolate landscapes of the high-desert, PAAR's is that of post-apocalyptic cityscape. Both frame scenes from a disturbing and prophetic future.

However, you get the impression that PAAR would challenge these similarities. While there's also a unifying cohesion that somehow seamlessly weaves all the different musical threads into an organic fabric, the pair demonstrate enough variety on these six distinctive tracks to suggest they can be whoever or whatever they want.

With PAAR currently working on their debut EP (which is a little problematic given that the pair are separated by the 400 km between Munich and Weimar) and planning to expand to a four-piece for live shows, 2016 should see the pair cement their burgeoning reputation...

PAAR
PAAR (Bandcamp)