Sei Still follows up their outstanding first release with another top effort on El Refugio released by Fuzz Club. I’m not buying the Can and Neu! references here as much as I did on the first release. Other than the somewhat motorik rhythms this is straight-up post-punk owing far more debt to 80’s Factory sound or San Francisco post-punk outfits like Glorious Din than anything else. At the same time don’t fall for the Joy Division references either though certainly there has to be some Hooky influence on the bass. The guitar work has a bit of classic 80’s slightly distorted jangle loaded with reverb. The songs here are shorter and there is a bit of tension and angst. The singing is in Spanish so I can’t comment on the meaning but there is a bit of melancholy in the tone. I really like where they went with this release. Everyone has been doing the Krautrock thing so it’s nice to see a band break out of that mold and venture in a different direction. I happened to watch a bit of one of their shows that was streamed on Facebook and it was outstanding. It will be interesting to see what path they are on if we see another release. Hoping to catch these guys on my travels this year if the Covid gods are merciful.

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