Demmers "Forced Perspective"

On their debut full-length Forced Perspective, New Jersey’s Demmers trade the scorched-earth volume of their hardcore roots for a colder, more calculated brand of gloom. While the DNA of the Garden State’s aggressive underground remains visible in the record’s lean muscularity and driving velocity, the nine tracks here find the band leaning into the monochromatic atmosphere of post-punk’s most storied architects. The result is a sound built on architectural tension and emotional restraint, where the skeletal precision of The Chameleons and The Sound meets the expansive, heavy-hearted weight of second-wave emo. It is a record of stark rhythms and precise guitar work, designed to capture the quiet, claustrophobic anxiety of modern life through a lens that is both confrontational and deeply inward-looking.

The album’s lead single, “Say It,” perfectly encapsulates this shift, channeling the mid-tempo angst and melodic desolation of Disintegration-era The Cure. Throughout the record, sparse arrangements and careful dynamics allow the tension to grow naturally, eschewing easy hooks for a sense of persistent, shimmering unease. Vocals hover over driving basslines with a subtle intensity, reflecting a world defined by disconnection and distrust. A collaborative release between à La Carte Records, Protagonist Music, and Summer Darling Tapes, Forced Perspective is a sharp, uncompromising debut that demands attention—a masterclass in how to translate the urgency of the hardcore scene into a sophisticated, brooding post-punk landscape.