By Jonah Cashel, Copy Editor

[Sacred Bones; 2023]

Rating: 8/10

Key tracks: “Lost Myself Again”, “Crash”, “New York”

Have you been fantasizing about dancing in a goth nightclub, getting lost in strobe lights, ecstatic dance, and deep, diabolical beats? Then look no further than the new album, Push, by post-punk electronica group Sextile. After a six year hiatus, they have returned with a record that feels like a cyberpunk dream come to life in the most satisfying way possible. As if the head-pounding drum machines and pulsating synths aren’t enough, this 11-track masterpiece boasts a wide range of electronic stylings all curated for the sake of one mission: get the audience to dance.

“We talked about how one of the criteria for these songs is ‘Would I be able to actually dance to it?’ I don’t think we’ve ever set that criteria before,” says the band’s Melissa Scaduto in a recent press release. If that was the goal going into this record, they can consider it flawlessly accomplished. Though straying from the heavy punk influence of their previous music slightly, these songs still maintain the spirit of punk as shown in the title of “Crassy Mel”, which is a nod toward ‘70s punk icons, Crass. It now just has a “serotonin-boosting” twist, as their new label, Sacred Bones Records, puts it. 

Those punk undertones are best put on display in “Lost Myself Again”, which sounds akin to The Clash or Buzzcocks if they suddenly revived and decided to make a rave anthem. The fast and rowdy vocals blend perfectly with a heavy bass line that really gets the blood pumping. Contrast this with the immediate next track, “Crash”, which evokes The Cure but with a deeply soothing lo-fi trance feel, and the sheer diversity of this album really starts to become clear. Sextile shows off such versatility that it’s hard not to find something for everyone despite the vastness of the electronic genre. Take “New York”, which is undercut with a delightful dream-pop melody that somehow blends with the harsh traps and synth that dominate the song.

The line repeated in that song goes, “We’re tough out here, but the love goes crazy”, which is meant to describe Mel Scaduto’s birthplace of New York City, but sums up the vibe of the album pretty well. The music is tough, hardcore, and pulse quickening, but it’s made with love—both for the genre and the community—and that doesn’t falter for a single track. Even if, like myself, you don’t consider yourself a huge fan of electronica, the sheer craft of this album won’t be lost on you. It is deeply enjoyable from start to finish no matter what genre you call yourself a fan of. And for those who write off music like this as “just noise”, if anything is going to change your mind, it’s this.

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