Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

It is an idea that should only exist in the minds of the Science Fiction writers and the followers of such dire threats laid down in the adventures of humanity’s eternal quest of individualism, of freeing the oppressed from their shackles and their slavery; in the words of so many who passionately parrot-phrase the words, Orwell’s 1984 was meant to be “a warning, not an instruction booklet”, their intentions, whilst repeated so often they lose their power, still holds true, we have become a commodity, the label on show, You Have Been Processed to the point of a billion numbers.

It may be a mantra that has been often quoted, but for Leeds’ band Klammer, it is Post-Punk chant that seeps out from the sound created and refreshes the sagging soul. For in the anger of Poss, Steve Whitfield, Bruno Almeida and Mike Addy, being processed has no part of being human, they undoubtedly suggest throughout the album that we should be injecting our own personality in to the world, absorbing yes, but not being stamped in a way that leaves the scars of consumerism upon our arms. We are not modern slaves, held out as offering to the slime covered and bloated creature of economy, we are human, and each song we sing should be different, and full of rage.

To hold this rage in such fashion is extraordinary, anybody can feel the burning anger, but it is often diluted, distilled and pulped until it fades in the next purchase, the mood replaced by the high of the quick and easy; we are guilty of it, it just takes a view of refusing to bow your head in that direction and soon you see beyond the pulse of the continuously upbeat.

Tracks such as Modern God, Mechanical Boy, ‘Twas But A Magpie, Human Clay and A Long Cold Summer capture the intensity of the thinking behind the album, the absolute thriving under pressure, of allowing the appealing blend of genres to come into play and the overall sensation of the edgy to take control, to be enormously powerful.

Following up from the band’s first two albums, Auslane and Klammer, this third instalment of the moody touch is a generous and incredibly styled recording; You may have been processed, however, as Klammer prove, there is always time get out of line and find those who stamped you and fight back.

Klammer’s You Have Been Processed is available now from Under Dogz Records.

Ian D. Hall