The Test Drive: St Lucifer – Disgraceland

St Lucifer are set to release their new album titled ‘Disgraceland’ on September 29th. Filthy electro-lucre as a lifestyle is a hard road to travel, but that road now has a soundtrack with ‘Disgraceland’.

Cheeky with a touch of snark with rebel throughout the rhythm, this is an album you can’t not listen to yet can’t guess how the next song will go. Brilliance in the songwriting with a crafty ‘fuck you’ dabbled in random places place this album at the beginning of our best of list.

About St Lucifer

Manchester (UK) based St Lucifer are 40% trans, 40% non-binary, 20% Post Human and 100% Queer. An expansive sound best described as a “heady cocktail of Alt/Pop/Electro/Punk/Noise”, from the breakout self-titled 2016 LP through to the incoming 4th album Disgraceland – a 40-minute odyssey of thrilling noise that is already delighting live audiences.

From the outset, the band’s original line up of Alex (Vocals/Microkorg), David (Vocals/Guitar/Nord), John (Bass/Tech) and Charlie (Drums/Sartorial Elegance) wasted no time in establishing themselves on both social media and the Manchester live circuit with anthemic choruses, striking stage-wear and a knack of winning over even the most cynical of audiences. Having defined their sound as ‘blackmetalgaydisco’ (a semi tongue-in-cheek shorthand for their unique blend of electro-punk/anti-pop – aided and abetted by forays into dreampop, post-rock, drone metal and, on occasion, outright noise) and over the years their sound has very much been a combination of evolution and revolution.

Self-Titled Debut

Having formed in October 2015 St Lucifer played their first gig within a month of birth. By Christmas they’d supported punk-legends Subway Sect, taken over Valentine Records, released a sold-out 7″ single (Van Der Lubbe Was Innocent/Do As Little As Possible) and blown up a record store. Literally exploding into the music business!

Three singles Trashorama, Beowulf and Junk Days followed during a year of impressive gigging culminating in 2016’s self-titled debut album to critical acclaim, with reviewers noting the ‘Infectious electro-punk anthems’ (Electronic North) and ‘Intense Electronic Impulses’ (Louder Than War) that were replicated at ear-shattering live shows across the north of England.

Music Is Violence

Second LP Music Is Violence proved to be a major turning point for the band. With line-up changes introducing lead guitarist Charlotte Winchcombe and drummer Alice Class they embarked on an extensive UK tour to promote the LP, the album featured special guests and an increased sonic palette, this was clearly a very different prospect to the heads-down electro-punk of their debut. Despite a heavy schedule they also found time to slip out Ultra/Violence, an interim EP of new material headed by a re-recording of Music Is Violence’s (insanely catchy) title track.

Biphoria

2020 saw yet more evolution of the St Lucifer brand with Ashleigh Talbot (also of ded.pixel) taking over live bass duties and Amy Griffiths (AKA Still Forever) augmenting the band on backing vocals and various nefarious pieces of ‘tech’ and the band curated a double album’s worth of b-sides, rarities, reworkings, and remixes in the form of Biphoria/The Violation of St Lucifer. The band described the first disc (Biphoria) as a companion piece to their two albums to date – as well as a tribute to the first two incarnations of the band, releasing the album as the world teetered on the cusp of global chaos of the pandemic.

Deathcrush Palare

Determined to not let world events derail them, the band negotiated writing and recording of their third proper album ‘Deathcrush Palare’, a harder, sassier, militant and sexier St Lucifer than had gone before. The band had a newfound confidence with David sharing co-writing credits with Griffiths and Talbot on three separate tracks, enhancing the dynamic and exploring new avenues. The band were able to get back on the road and performed a variety of live dates including supporting Peter Hook and the Light in a special gig in Macclesfield Church as well as appearances at O2 Forum Kentish Town in London and O2 Academy Leeds as part of HRH Goth, winning over a host of new fans.

Disgraceland

As the world entered into the ‘new normal’ of post-pandemic life another line up change was necessary as Ashleigh took a sabbatical from bass duties and the band welcomed Gitzy Hate to the live set-up and creative fold, all in time for them both to feature on the new Disgraceland album. Initially keen to avoid making another ‘political’ album a la Deathcrush Palare, the state of the world and the UK provided a rich vein of material and Trump, Johnson, Farage, PPE scams, TERF-wars and the toxic post-truth dog whistles proved to be a focus point to rally against. In terms of sound, another sparkling evolution has been embraced and delivered a harder, faster more passionate soundscape. With a UK tour in the autumn of 2023 coinciding with September’s album release and more dates to be announced for early 2024 the band aren’t so much on a roll as a tsunami of intent.

St Lucifer is currently

David (Vocals/Guitar/Nord)
Alice (Drums/Vocals)
Gitzy Hate (Bass/Vocals)
Amy (Vocals/Percussion/Tech).

St Lucifer are the #queermilitia
St Lucifer make #blackmetalgaydisco

LINKS:
https://www.stlucifer.net/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCebEE5HjWRO43yGyw7hWxAQ
https://www.twitter.com/StLuciferLive
https://www.facebook.com/stluciferlive
https://www.instagram.com/stluciferlive