In Review: LUMER - The Disappearing Act

A fast-paced affair, the Hull post-punk's latest effort is an active reflection of the world that surrounds them, dealt with a welcome dose of venom.

Posted: 5 February 2021 Words: Wes Foster

It’s a fast-paced affair, sitting at 24 minutes for seven tracks, but LUMER’s most recent release The Disappearing Act is an exciting prospective sign of things to come. Their last release, back in 2018, Blood on Suits, was a slightly more lo-fi, stripped back version of what they've now become. Instead The Disappearing Act takes the bones of this and builds on it further. Their latest effort is a more polished, more smooth rendition of post-punk that knows what it wants to be.

The Hull band have been around for a while - and whilst probably known better for their live sets and near constant gigging pre-2020, they haven’t necessarily got a large amount of recorded material to reflect this presence. Their post-punk sound gravitates towards a heavy rhythm section, creating a rich baseboard from which to write further. This, to an extent, seems to leave more space for the vocals and lead guitar to reflect one another - creating a heavy but richly tapestried way of writing and performing that brings together the independent cogs of a single machine.

Whilst the EP is strong throughout, the absolute stand out track is 'Another Day at the Zoo', its finale. On top of an emphasis in a change of pace - going from slightly more indie-influenced rock to something much more broken down into small changes - here there is a real venom to the lyrics. With post-punk becoming the new zeitgeist, lyrics have become insular, and arguably at times a bit angsty, a criticism that could be levelled at some of LUMER’s early work too. The roots of post-punk were that it formed a resistance: where punk broke the norm, post-punk has something a little more formed to say. 'Another Day at the Zoo' takes this and echoes earlier post-punk and the way it would form conversation, the way it would take up arms against issues. It isn’t outwardly political, but it goes back to a growing action of social commentary and active reflection towards what is around us.

For only 24 minutes, LUMER cram a lot of potential into this EP, forming itself as a culmination of their last few years but an objective of where they want to be, and the tracks they want to be writing.