WL//WH Review: Agent Side Grinder “A/X” LP

Album Review Agent Side Grinder

On April 26, Stockholm’s cold wave outfit Agent Side Grinder released its brand new ‘A/X’ LP via Progress Productions (Europe and the rest of the world), and Metropolis Records (N.America). ‘A/X’ is the follow-up to their super successful ‘Alkimia’ LP back in 2015, the record which blasted them over the airwaves and made their music so popular in the post-punk tribe (including anthems like ‘Giants Fall’, ‘Hexagon’, ‘Last Rites’, etc). The new album comes with 9 signature tracks featuring 2018’s maxis ‘Doppelganger’ (with its B-side ‘In From The Cold’), ‘Stripdown’, and a very special guest appearance by Sally Dige on the last track of the album Wounded Star. ASG is a really inventive band which blends its (de facto) post-punk musings with electronic and synthesized elements, all filtered and distilled in an “icy” sonic capsule with a rather cold wave approach. Most of their songs are sounding like flirting with pop music, in the Scandinavian style, while all of them are actually reinvigorating new-synth wave music, with some pretty industrial beats too. The ace up their sleeve though is their glorious melodies and their catchy refrains that elevate the whole “narration”, to frequently uplifting and utterly dancing tunes.

The ‘A/X’ album is offering gently seven stunning songs that are equivalent to their credentials and it also hides two more “surprises”. Track no.7 ‘MM/CM’ clearly manifest their love and keen on minimal electronic pop music, and in a retro-oriented mood, ASG created one of their most peculiar songs ever. Track no.9 ‘Wounded Star’ with Sally Dige on lead vocals, closes the album ideally and reveals another aspect of their songwriting skills. That specific song comes as the ethereal pop-noir specimen of their artistic macrocosm, featuring the best-to-fit singer. As for the rest of the songs on the album, prepare for post-punk thrills and cold wave chills with high octane fuel. Start listening to the show with the epic opener ‘In From The Cold’, let it guide you to the next industrial station in ‘Decompression’, and there you are! The road is now open toward a sonic bliss guaranteed by all three ASG navigators! Here is ‘A/X’!!!