Band: Warsaw Pact
Album: Extended Play 1
Label: Self Release
Members: Ivan Delint , Ludwig
https://warsawpactla.bandcamp.com/album/extended-play-i
https://www.facebook.com/pg/TheWarsawPact/about/?ref=page_internal
Warsaw Pact is the creative vision of LA based Ivan Delint and Ivan Ludwig. I first became aware of them by an outstanding remix on the Antipole album of the song Someday 45. The first thing I said to Ivan when I heard this EP is this sounds very New York living in LA. A sound of what if The Jesus and Mary Chain quit shoegaze and went post punk in Andy Warhols loft. You can really hear the post punk influence but less the popular motif of classics like Joy Division/Bauhaus, more the resurgence from Interpol/The Editors. I think the other thing that really grabbed me was how a lot of Post Punk adds layers of production and clarity to what the elders had done before to create a new sound. Warsaw Pact has attacked the equation from the other side. They started at Interpol and stripped it back with a Lo-Fi edge. The bass lines are weighted and thick, the guitars are syncopated and dance on top. It’s the big buzzing wall of fuzz created by the additional guitar and Ivan’s out front vocals that create the effect I think of as Warsaw Pact.
Emotionally what I am hearing here is an erratic and twisting story of confusion and discovery. Maybe this is what reminded me of the lyrical and cadence delivery of Jim Reid. Knowing you have something to say but doing it with that lashing trauma of youth where you just can’t find the words to express yourself. It’s actually a much more difficult emotion to capture as a song writer than you might think. It’s something I relate to and can appreciate burying myself in through someone else’s eyes. It makes me feel that Ivan still has another voice waiting to be revealed on future albums that is not so influenced by the music that shaped him.
We are somewhere between an album and an EP here at 8 tracks. I found the way the tracks were listed really interesting. With a 1st track called “Introduction” and the 4th called “Interlude I” Almost a nod to an opera or soundtrack flow of the music. Here are the songs that grabbed me most.
DeadVlei – Right in with that driving thunder bass and quick chord changes. This song more than others gave me that The Chain feel. With that back ground repeated cadence and echo washed vocals seething with intensity and edge without using volume to get the effect.
Lights – I think this track definitely has the most curbside appeal. It bounces around the puddles of a rainy dark street. Ivan’s vocals sit to the back a little more and the effect of having the bass to the front really adds a weight and power to them. I like the spoken word background breakdown. Lends a sort of art house feel to this song. If a video is shot for the album this is the song i picture first .
Midnight Cure – Very exposed in this song. The vocals charge to the front spinning around. This song is a person lost in a labyrinth wandering through the endless passages. The drums on this song have a much crisper drive in the snare snaps and it helps create motion and urgency. I want to know the rest of the story in this song, maybe I will ask Ivan in the interview.
Overall this record is the capture of a moment in time. The guitar work is stellar and puts me in mind a bit of Antipole. I love the displaced feelings, I love the New York Art House cliche’ feel. I even love that emotion of feeling lost that reminded me of New Order Movement in a where do we go from here way. However I think this also sets a bar for Ivan and company, I want another record, I want the clarity and focus of vision for the next one. I want to hear how this story ends.