By Jim Rowland

Artwork for Rethink Everything by Interrobang?!Featuring Dunstan Bruce, coming from the anarcho-cabaret roots of Chumbawamba, and Stephen Griffin previously of the London outfit Regular Fries, Interrobang?! have made a decisive move away from the previous guitar-led confrontational agit-punk sound of their 2018 debut album. Ten years since they started work on that album, their sophomore release sees them embrace synths, samplers, loops and electronic production for a radical re-invention in a mission to ‘Rethink Everything’.

In essence, what has not been re-thought here is the confrontational and uncompromising nature of the lyrics and messages of Interrobang?!, but rather the means by which those messages are delivered. They have embraced electronic production and dance culture, not in a banging hard house way, but with a more chilled, electro groove on the likes of ‘Outrageous’, ‘My Name Is’ and ‘Fabulous’, allowing the message to be received loud and clear.

The influence of 70’s German kosmische musik seeps through at times, especially on the hypnotic ‘Not Gonna Lie’, whilst there are echoes of Wire on the more guitar-oriented ‘Colourless Green Ideas’, which features guest vocals from Molly Vulpyne.

Elsewhere, ‘Defiance’ has a harder hitting dance groove, ‘Onorthodox’ has an alt-pop vibe to it, and there’s a distinct funky groove to ‘Dilettante’.

With lyrical broadsides raging against hypocrisy, rampaging capitalism, internet machismo and the creeping numbness of late-stage adulthood, this is hard hitting stuff, wrapped up in a different sonic landscape.

Appropriately dubbed by the band ‘agit-synth’, they do it very well indeed.