Icy Cold Records ICR115, No Need Name NNN-VNC-001 (2023)

Born out from the ’80s underground music’s nurtured deviant imagination of Lula Borgia, with the prompt addition of Valentine Dedieu on the machines, the ‘sanguine pop’ French duo Venin Carmin delivers, since 2017, an uncompromising, unapologetic blend of New Wave with blood-red Pop and Cold Punk.

The “H2D” single is the best way to enter into their universe. Dystopic, jeering, heady moods stir up bouncy skipping rhythms, throbbing resonant bass lines, frenzied icy bright melodies, and warped echoing stabs, to sway in chilly, dire frequencies around catchy layered vocals, releasing taunting laughs, caustic cries, and trippy echoes, into a detached chaos of surreal grooves. Immersive and imaginative, the visuals shuffle a brash and sassy performance by Venin Carmin with symbolic black-and-white scenes to sync seamlessly with the busy, in-yourface, energy of the soundtrack. Eye-catching wardrobe, fantasy make-up, and edgy attitudes set the stage for a day-to-night transition where the dynamic duo wanders from the graveyard to a strobing party scene, without missing a dramatic beat.