Ukrainian Rock With Edge

My first introduction to the band Indytronics was a cover of the 2005 Mattafix hit "Big City Life". I'll be honest, even though the song was a number 1 hit in Germany, Italy, Austria and several other countries it never made a dent here in the US and I was unfamiliar with the tune. What I will say is that song was a great introduction to the band. Indytronics is a four piece unit hailing from the Ukrainian capital of Kiev.  As late as October of 2014, this group of musicians from the Ukraine performed and released music as the band Bonehouse but have been re-christened as Indytronics for their April 2015 release "Scintilla Wave"

The band is billed as a post punk revival indie band and the music is heavy industrial in nature. Songs are well constructed and the production is actually very good but nothing I heard on the new record rivaled the cover tune that was my point of entry. Being of curious nature, I went back and listened to some of the previous offerings under the Bonehouse moniker and I hate to say that the new identity has not necessarily had the positive effect that the band I'm sure had anticipated.  A couple of tracks on "Scintilla Wave" do seem to capture the earlier magic most notably 'Mark Your Ships' and 'Public Eye'.

Kiev, for those of us who are unfamiliar is a city roughly the size of Chicago or Houston so the band's influences are big city in nature and that is partly evident in the music itself. It has a certain sophistication and a certain dystopian quality. I have no doubt about the band's talent and eagerly await more offerings from them. I will be interested to see the progress they make with their new identity and hope they can recapture some of the magic they brought to the cover tune that so captivated me initially.

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