TWENTY ONE EIGHTY TWO
RECORDING COMPANY
Diminished Men
Damage Mécanique
Limited edition LP +7-inch
Released 2022
Dave Abramson -- drums, percussion, drum programming
Simon Henneman - bass VI, bass, guitar
Steve Schmitt - guitars
Diminished Men are an instrumental group formed by guitarist Steve Schmitt, drummer Dave Abramson, and bassist Simon Henneman. Drawing from elements of film noir, psychedelic exotica, experimental rock, deviant surf and musique concrète, the band refocus their influences into something entirely unique. Their 2005 first full length Names of the Dead introduced the band's jagged, hard-charging approach and cinema obscura ethos. A bizarre series of cassettes American Volume Swells and their Six O' Clock Baby album revealed a raw and unchecked side of the band through live recordings, improvisations and collage. It was their 2009 Shadow Instrumentals LP on the Sun City Girls label, Abduction Records, that got the band wider recognition for their creative and distinctive sound. Followed by Capnomancy and Vision in Crime, they cemented their status as formidable figures, developing a dedicated audience of audiophiles who found themselves entranced by Diminished Men’s high energy live performances. Their latest release, Damage Mécanique released through 2182 Recording Company in December 2022, showcases Diminished Men as masters of their subgenre.
Review from The Wire -- January 2023
When David Lynch and Mark Frost revived Twin Peaks in 2017, the most disappointing thing about it was that they didn't tap instrumental rock stalwarts Diminished Men for a gig in the road house. Legendary in the Seattle underground for nearly two decades, Diminished Men deliver a Northwest noir counterpoint to the Dick Dale meets the Antichrist atmospherics that gave Angelo Badlamenti's soundtrack for the TV show's original run its sinister aura. Damage Mécanique feels even grittier and more unhinged than previous outings. It opens with a percussive nod to Portishead's (and/or Jimi Hendrix's) "Machine Gun" and spirals out from there, incorporating grinding noise into tremolo-heavy surf guitar and electro western grooves that court chaos without ever falling apart. An alarm-like pulse blares throughout "Panopticon" but the band play on, unsettlingly unphased. -- Emily Pothast
Review from Rock Obrobje - November 2022
Tole je dober mesec za avant-rock. Diminished Men iz Seattla so se po šestih letih zbudili in hibernacije, a vmes niso izgubili niti kančka drznosti. Nazadnje so namreč nakazovali smer „normalizacije“ tja proti surf-rocku, a sedaj središčenje negirajo na celi črti. Takoj v uvodnem komadu albuma Damage Mécanique nas oblijejo kovinski, industrijski zveni tolkal in hladno kitarsko strunjanje. Zdi se, da je skupina želela narediti prerez, nekakšno antologijo, lastno razvojno pot od amaterskega topotanja kovinskih objektov preko bolj sofisticiranih prijemov ob pomoči studijskih efektov do „zadnje“ faze, surf-rocka višjega reda. Za razliko od Horse Lords je njihov špil mnogo bolj svoboden, razpuščen, nepredvidljiv. Številni prehodi tekom enega komada so izvedeni po svojstveni logiki, kar instinktivno, kar mnogokdaj ruši tam, kjer bi kdo drug začel graditi oziroma Diminished Men z užitkom sproti spodnašajo naša pričakovanja. Tudi produkcijsko je album na višji ravni, čeprav zaradi odmika od vseh dominantnih glasbenih strujanj danes fantje še vedno sodijo globoko v undergound. This Heat za 21. stoletje?
