URGH - Diving into the Depths of the Weird with Mandy, Indiana

In 2023, Mandy, Indiana crash landed onto the music scene with “Pinking Shears:” French poetry, cymbals, toms, and synths echoed like they were recorded in a cave–because they were. Then, like the sky was opening up, a chainsaw-sounding bass synth dominated the soundscape as Valentine Caulfield’s vocals brimmed with intensity. This is the off-the-wall sound of Mandy, Indiana.

The London and Berlin-based band has been described in numerous ways: noise rock, industrial, witch house, and countless other descriptors that did not exist half a century ago. Yet, it does not take knowledge of any such genre tags to understand their music. Mandy, Indiana’s esoteric exterior of mystique reveals some of the most lyrically enchanting and sonically creative music of the decade. This is displayed no better than on URGH, the brilliant sophomore LP of Europe’s most exciting new electronic collective.

Listening to a new album is like a boat voyage: The artist is the captain, steering the listener through their project, guiding them across serene waters, emotional peaks, and raucous storms, and finally delivering them to their destination as the album realizes its conclusion. Any listener who decides to embark on the journey of URGH must swap out their gondola for a submarine. A listener without their sea legs may grimace at sinking so far below the tide, leaving behind the familiarity of hooks and choruses, pop vocal production, and clean guitars. The intentional use of French for a majority of the album further subverts the typical calm seas of familiarity for many listeners unacquainted with the language.

Chaotic synths whirl around autotuned vocals on the EDM-influenced opener, “Sevastopol.” Before the listener has time to wrap their head around this first leg of their voyage, “Magazine” plunges them even further into the deep sea; cymbals crash and synth leads peak around hurried bass lines and fearful vocals in this intense, industrial masterpiece. Caulfield is practically screaming by the track’s end, and her lyrics about being pursued by a killer further enhance the song’s uneasiness. 

Image Credit: Pitchfork

“Magazine” is the yeti crab of this album, a fascinating creature that inhabits the hydrothermal vents of the deep ocean. Some listeners may be terrified by its seemingly supernatural strength and overwhelmed by the intensity, but those who stay witness the amazement it has to offer. Just as the yeti crab has evolved its irregular features for its unusual environment, “Magazine” triumphantly subverts traditional musical structures to create something boundary-pushing and exciting. “Magazine” sounds like a horror movie contained within a song, while somehow still exhibiting groovy bass lines as dancey as any great EDM song. URGH, as does any well-crafted experimental album, does not throw you into the Mariana Trench and dare you to drown in its idiosyncrasies, but rather displays mastery of the familiar and tests the limits of the unfamiliar from a controlled and intentional environment, inside of the walls of its carefully constructed submersible. 

With this new perspective, listeners can find comfort in the tactful drumming and smooth beat of “try saying” while ogling its unconventional sampling and synthwork. Even the most terrifying creature in the deep sea, “Life Hex,” doesn’t seem so bad. Guitars and drums form a howling vortex, but the album-trained, now-veteran sailor doesn’t need a traditional hook to anchor their ear. Instead, they might grasp onto the track’s extremely catchy bass line or admire its masterful production and vigor from a new vantage point.

“ist halt so” feels like many songs in one, going through four substantial beat switches, each one highlighting the band’s strengths with crushing bass, plodding drums, rhythmic vocals, and powerful synths. However, a French-to-English dictionary would be highly recommended on future voyages, as this track contains some of the album’s most impactful lyrics. “ist halt so” is a protest song in solidarity with Palestine, as Caulfield sings “when I am with you, your anger is mine.” She stresses the human element with lines such as “our humanity is worth more than their lies and their bombs and their hatred.” The song concludes with a powerful repeated chorus of “they tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds.” Suddenly, this album’s impetus becomes clear. The eccentric outer walls of this album instead reflect sonic creativity and beauty in the unconventional, and the anger and fear on the inside come from a place of deep unrest with an all-too-familiar society. Together, they signal a desire for change.

As the album’s journey approaches its end, the listener is presented with a few singles, “Sicko!” a Death Grips-esque sample-heavy track featuring rapper Billy Woods, and “Cursive,” an incredibly danceable and catchy club-like song. The closing track, “I’ll Ask Her,” jolts the now-accustomed listener; after an album of French vocals, Caulfield performs this final song in English. Why would this band turn away from their strong French vocals at the last moment? A group which has found artistic genius in the unexpected and innovatively subverted expectations could not conclude their album in any other way. The lyrics are told from the perspective of a dismissive man, as women report his friend’s predatory behaviors but “they’re all fucking crazy.” If you had missed this album’s message of deep-seated rage with society before, Caulfield spells it out as plainly as possible at the end. Whether its societal issues or musical tropes, Mandy, Indiana is a band at the forefront of the movement for change.

Favorite Tracks: “Cursive,” “try saying, “ist halt so”

Rating: INDY

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Elliot Anderson is a sophomore in the College majoring in Biology and minoring in deep-sea oceanography, but only for this article.