New Noise Designed By A Sadist

Back in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s, English post-indie/proto-industrial types Pop Will Eat Itself were hailed by many musos as being a pretty exciting prospect. Their first two records in particular inspired the likes of Nine Inch Nails and our own U2 with their ferocious, almost punky future sounds. Fast-forward to the present day though, and PWEI aren’t quite as revolutionary as they used to be. New Noise Designed By A Sadist (their first album since ’94) sounds like a band harking back to their glory days and resting on their laurels a little bit. The sneering, spiky salvos of ‘Chaos & Mayhem’ and ‘Nosebleeder Turbo TV’ are good fun, but this record is far from an essential purchase.