The ex-Viet Cong sign a new post-punk classic in the making. When frontman Matt Flegel, guitarist Danne Christiansen, multi-instrumentalist Scott Munro and drummer Mike Wallace - the PREOCCUPATIONS lineup - wrote and recorded their album, they were in a somewhat unstable situation... Indeed, each member of the quartet had moved to a different city. Better known as Viet Cong, they had made the decision to change it, but still didn’t know what other name to choose... Another change was their songwriting approach, which they decided to throw out the window. With PREOCCUPATIONS, the band is then looking to stabilize. They released today the first single from their self-titled album, Anxiety, accompanied by a video directed by David Yoonha Park, who had already worked with them. Each track on the album conveys very specific things and feelings. Flegel explains that these “things” are those that live deep within us, that even at night remain lodged, active, in our minds. The band draws on post-punk classics, while adding their own touch. There are also echoes of their last Viet Cong album. Sonically, it is still just as scorching, but with a different kind of heat, perhaps more subtle and concrete. As always, there is something crystalline in their music, a breath of cold air in a scorching place. Proof that despite the change, you don’t come away disoriented. “Whatever their name, the quartet keeps delivering the goods” Les Inrocks.