The Megaphonic Thrift // Decay Decoy

The name sounds a bit like The Polyphonic Spree, no? Well ok, yes it does, but here’s the thing: I don’t think I’ve ever come across a band with a name that describes its sound so aptly, not since Madonna’s label put out a record by Wank back in the 90s, anyway. But it’s not immediately obvious why. There are subtleties that will elude you the first time you hear Decay Decoy, because, on that first listen, you’ll get lambasted by jarring guitar chords, by insistent drumming, by distortion, feedback, noise, chaos. The rewards come a few listens in when you become attuned to its lo-fi production and you start to pick up the vocal lines more readily. Even then, lyrics are hard to grasp, as is everything about this record, but when you do catch a wistfully melancholic “chasing the world away, making it sweet again”, your heart stops, just for a moment, before you get reimmersed in guitar pedal generated cacophony. It’s not until you start to allow all of that chaos to wash over you and you let your guard down that you actually listen. There are strong pop melodies to be found here, but they’re hidden. There is tenderness, introspection, but you have to work to find it. This is a band that don’t feel the need to shout to be heard above the babble. Decay Decoy is far from a classic, but its appeal lies, unexpectedly, in its mastery of the understatement. Megaphonic thrift, see?