Folly Group – Down There! Review

Ten tracks to get you going in the morning, when the five for 79p croissants stuffed with what might be chocolate, are not enough. Down There!, the debut album from post-punk collective Folly Group, gets it. What “it” may be in this instance is not yet known, but whatever it is, Folly Group have their finger on the pulse of the world around them. Menacing instrumentals, the slow burn chant of opening track Big Ground, and this inevitability of an explosion come through wonderfully. The London-based band are in fine form the whole way through Down There!, and how could they not be? They have been piecing together this rise and rise for years and now Folly Group has artistic achievement of a long-form variety in their grasp. They seize it and shake it with all the chances they get.  

Explosive punk sounds are all too common over the last few years and finding some urgency and desire is harder still. Folly Group is both of those staples, the rising guitar work of their opener bleeds ever so well into a heavy, goading track I’ll Do What I Can. What Folly Group can do is kindle a new rise in the genre. Try and understand the disparate ways and do what you can, what a sentiment and throughout Down There! is a sense of striking through to do your best in the face of great and almost inevitable adversity. Yard Act-adjacent thumps and whirrs on Bright Night bring out the best in vocalist Sean Harper, a wise voice playing Devil’s advocate and at war with himself on some songs. It crafts a neat and fascinating experience for Down There!, which rattles off some impressive material over its ten tracks. 

Anxieties over those living next door are heard on Strange Neighbour. We do not choose our neighbours but can choose to try and figure them out from across the way. Their modern life intricacies are billed on this track from Folly Group, though who sounds worse, neighbour or inhabitant, is up for debate. Their post-punk charms are in the vast pool of stepping up with a fun rhythm and a tongue-in-cheek sentimentality which the likes of Wet Leg ripped away from the scene and formed streamlined indie rock with. Whether it happens for Folly Group is yet to be seen though their experimental instrumentals and freedom to use any new tool they see fit is refreshing.  

Great consistencies steer this one as well as expected. For the band, it means they have a steady release. For listeners, it confirms a quality to their work and efforts which has been done before, but Down There! has enough individuality and excitement of its own. Experience it and take those shots of droning fresh air, the likes of Pressure Pad will be hard to beat on the post-punk scene this year. Effective and hard effort from the group who will no doubt enjoy the spoils of this one, a quality bit of rising punk pieces which are dependent still on the clunk and grind of electronic interjections – featured throughout and used to perfection on the sinister elements of Nest and beyond. All roads ahead of Folly Group lead to success, and at the very least, they have a hell of a first record to show for it.