Post Common - Post Common Post Common

‘Space/Time’ lays out an effective roadmap for the unwieldy beast that is Post Common, comprised of Stuart Hopkins (guitar/vocals), Ian Humes (bass) and John Newton (drums/vocals) - a project that shares DNA with the trio’s musical heritage but that expands outwards taking in elements of electronic and industrial music alongside their love of post-hardcore.

At the centre of their sonic alchemy is the thrilling juxtaposition of Hopkins’ and Newton’s shared vocals - like a MacKaye and Picciotto of the verdant English south coast, the two play off each other to stunning effect. The former’s often yearning, searching melodies are perfectly counterpointed by Newton’s famed guttural bark as they trade lines that walk a fine margin between romance and dystopia, poetry and mundanity. It’s exquisite corpse songcraft at its finest.

“This was the first experiment of me writing lyrics and Stu mangling them in his own way,” explains Newton. “It’s a really good illustration of that exquisite corpse process. It feels like a natural opener to introduce the band and EP. A lot of drum pads and electronic stuff; a deliberate attempt to play around and challenge more traditional instrumentation.”

Post Common were initially formed by Hopkins and Newton after the former moved back to Brighton and they hit it off over a shared love of DIY punk rock, particularly Dischord Records, but also a desire to play with more industrial and electronic flourishes, finding particular inspiration in highly influential New York duo Suicide.

The ranks were bolstered with Ian Humes joining on bass, after Newton and Humes struck up a friendship across a record shop counter, Humes becoming the perfect foil between Hopkins and Newton’s self-recognised differing approaches.

After this meeting of minds and mutual interests, Post Common truly came to life in the practice room - while there was no identikit, hardened decision as to what the band should sound like, they quickly found a unique, intensely physical sound that’s best experienced in a small room surrounded by sweating, living bodies - something that’s already been seen at select shows across the South East including an appearance at this year’s Great Escape festival and a slot opening for Mclusky.

The band quickly decamped to The Bookhouse in South London alongside engineer Tom Hill to lay down the fruits of their earliest efforts in the guise of this four-track EP. ‘Space/Time’ is joined here by the careening, motorik ‘Check Atomizer’, before opening up into a cavernous second side - comprised of ‘Invisible Tools’ and ‘Paywall’ - that hits like a punch to the gut and showcases the haunting emotion of Hopkins’ vocal leads, before Newton’s gruff, fierce husk returns in the EP’s final implosive meltdown.

That interplay between Post Common’s joint vocalists never fails to walk a thrilling tightrope both sonically and thematically across the EP. “Sometimes we collaborate, and sometimes we write separately,” Hopkins offers. “John’s more dystopian and industrial, like he’s Bauhaus, while I’m personal. If he’s brutalist, I’m more introspective - if he’s the outside of the house, I’m the inside.”

Early Doors No. 12