Snapped Ankles: Stunning Luxury [Album Review]

Snapped Ankles
Stunning Luxury
The Leaf Label [2019]

Who: Snapped Ankles are a pseudo-techno/punk band out of London and out of this world.

Sound: Stunning Luxury continues Snapped Ankles’ blend of tribal techno mixed with motorik rhythms and post-punk ethos.

TFN Final Take: 2019 continues to impress me with a constant stream of great new music so maybe that is my excuse for being late to the game on Snapped Ankles second album, Stunning Luxury, which came out in March. I happened to catch a video of one of their live performances and I was rather agog with what I was witnessing.

The band members perform while dressed as some kind of forest-dwelling beings, part-man, part-Knights Who Say Ni and part Tolkien’s Ent. The performance was an otherworldly clash of tech vs nature and manic energy. All cool in my book. However, it’s not their stage shtick that won me over, it was their propulsive and maddeningly catchy songs. Songs that will enthrall you and bury themselves in your brain.

Stunning Luxury opens with a subdued yet hypnotic track, “Pestisound (Moving Out)”. It is a fine enough opening, but it does not prepare you for the feverish chaos you are going to be slammed with on the next track, “Tailpipe.” The motorik rhythms kick in and the true nature and charm of Snapped Ankles are revealed. It is as if LCD Soundsystem grew up listening to Can or NEU! .

Stunning Luxury has a ton of delights within its 10-track arsenal. Along with “Tailpipe,” “Letter from Hampi Mountain”, “Rechargeable”, “Delivery Van,” “Three Steps to a Development” and “Drink and Glide” represent the cream of the crop in this engaging and incredibly likable LP. Wish I could dance without looking like I am having a seizure because this album gets you moving.

Snapped Ankles exist in a delicate place that fans of techno/dance music and fans of punk can both appreciate. Stunning Luxury is a stunning achievement.

Snapped Ankles Website
Snapped Ankles Facebook
The Leaf Label

– Reviewed by Daniel Taylor

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Daniel Taylor

Photographer/journalist for the U.S. Navy for 26 years. Music fan since forever. Music really hit him in the early 90’s when he heard the Pixies’ Doolittle LP. After that came Pavement and then Guided by Voices. His love for those bands formed his taste in music and he continues to search for that musical “high” today. Married for 18 years and currently lives in Japan.

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