Album review: In Letter Form – Fracture. Repair. Repeat.

Bay Area-based post-punk foursome In Letter Form have released their album ‘Fracture. Repair. Repeat.’ via Metropolis on vinyl, CD and digitally.

In Letter Form draws influence from Joy Division, Bauhaus, and Echo and the Bunnymen. Their sound blends post-punk, synth pop and new wave. We know that the 80’s revivalist thing sometimes gets slagged off but on ‘Fracture. Repair. Repeat.,’ In Letter Form proudly shows their influences and they do it right. Overall, the vocals throughout the album are similar to The Editors – this isn’t a bad thing – they also do the 80’s revival thing very well. You can really hear The Editors’ in both vocals and musically on Edison’s Medicine. There’s a strong Echo and The Bunnymen meets Interpol feel to Wait Now, while Reflecting The Rain has a New Order vibe. Both of these tracks have a bit of a lighter feel than darkness of the rest of the album. Terror (is a State of Mind) has a hint of Interpol and a strong synth sound that’s a good contrast to the dark guitar and vocals on the track.

The album is really dark, but there’s a reason for the darkness of the album. The five steps of grief are a central theme in ‘Fracture. Repair. Repeat’. The band consider their formation a fortunate turn of events, as they were all experiencing heartbreak on some level when they came together. When they were writing the album, one of the band members was grieving the suicide of his girlfriend and the death of his best friend. Even though not everyone in the band went through a life altering loss of a loved one, they all weathered their own storms that allowed them to come together creatively.

They recently released the single Face In The Crowd, which provides a good sample of what to expect on the rest of the album. It’s one of the standout tracks from the album, as is the catchy album closer 111. Take a listen to Face In The Crowd via Soundcloud below.

I’m looking forward to future albums from In Letter Form when they start developing a more unique sound rather than drawing on their influences so strongly because it has a lot of potential with such good influences. ‘Fracture. Repair. Repeat.’ is a good listen and if you’re into 80’s bands like Echo & The Bunnymen and Joy Division, and 90’s bands like Interpol and The Editors, it’ll fit right into your collection. Heck, if you like the synth heavy post-punk music, you should at least give it a listen.

If you want to check them out live, they have a few upcoming dates in New York and California.

For more information on In Letter Form, visit inletterform.com.