Loci: ‘Medic’

With binary-code promo design and a barely comprehensible branch of maths for a band name, you’d be forgiven for expecting Loci’s self-produced sophomore effort to be a geeky ‘80s synth record replete with Tron references.

On ‘Medic’, however, Ritalin references are the bigger player. Throughout, singer-guitarist Ben Rosser flips from mild pill-popper to screaming psycho and back again, most notably on opener ‘Crash’ - a track as spare and visceral as Nirvana’s output.

It’s the doses of genuine ache - not to mention Pixies-level production - that boost the EP. The sedatives come out for ‘Quoits’ with a plaintive guitar riff (albeit interrupted by an outburst halfway through), while ‘Sucker Punch’ is precisely that. Melodic but tough, it reveals a truly touching core in Rosser’s repetition of, ‘I won’t break this - it just breaks itself.’

If this all sounds a bit emo (or worse: screamo), be warned that at times ‘Medic’ does veer dangerously close to the edge, before being strapped down again. Thankfully Loci use the right needles at the right time.



Released digitally on 15th December 2008.

locionline.com

Written by Polis Loizou.