Real Farmer, a lovely post-punk platoon from the Netherlands, built their new album out of spare parts and grudges— a machine assembled and deconstructed. “Missing Link” kicks the door open before you’ve found the handle. Jeroen Klootsema’s vocal comes in like a man arguing with a vending machine that ate all of his coins. “9 Till Not Alright” follows with a jangly, off-axis guitar that walks sharp, twitchy and dangerous in a way that never quite tips over.
Then “I.D.K.T.S.” does its trick: light on one foot, lead-boot heavy on the other, very reminiscent of the band’s fantastic debut, Compare What’s There. The middle stretch — “System,” “Settle,” and “Waste Away” — is where the record shows more of its teeth. These are the band’s anarchist-symbol-on-the-logo streak, dressed up in a ska-lurch drumbeat that refuses to sit still, bass throbbing like a bruise you keep pressing on purpose ’cause it feels good. Call it protest music that never forgets to stop dancing.
Then the exhale: “Beggar’s Hymn” slinks in dubby and half-lit, Marrit Meinema’s bass doing more talking than anyone’s mouth, even though she sings backup on this one. If I have one suggestion to Real Farmer, it’s this: let Meinema sing more. “Run By Animals” hands the mic to Meinema and turns cool, distant, melancholic — a groove that feels like it’s constantly on the verge of floating away.
Two Wrongs Don’t Make A Right doesn’t reinvent the post-punk toolbox, nor should it try — it just knows exactly which tools are sharp and uses every one of them like it’s the last day it can.
