Natalie Hoffmann, guitarist and singer of the Memphis-based garage-punk group
NOTS, started
Optic Sink as a solo home-recording diversion in 2018, while her main band was taking a break from touring in order to work on their third album.
NOTS had incorporated spooky organs and shadowy effects into their jittery post-punk tunes, but with
Optic Sink,
Hoffmann plunges fully into the analog electronic realm, constructing dystopian minimal synth gems that are every bit as urgent and visceral as her guitar-driven work. With collaborator
Ben Bauermeister providing additional percussion,
Hoffmann blots out the light with thick layers of hazy synths, while buzzing, apprehensive bass lines and racing drum machine rhythms make her monotonic intonations sound all the more paranoid. Tracks such as "Personified," "Exhibitionist," and "Vanishing Point" are brittle synth-punk in the vein of
the Normal, but with smeared delay effects giving everything a more psychedelic aura. "Soft Quiet Life" begins with some bristling oscillations before the beat kicks into double time and
Hoffmann's lyrics express a desire for solace and stability. "Dumb Luck" is slower and a bit closer to the mystical lo-fi synthwave of Goner Records labelmate
Bênní, but with a much bleaker outlook. "Girls in Gray" has murky synth textures similar to some of
Patrick Cowley's porn soundtracks plus dubby rimshots like "Bela Lugosi's Dead," ending up with a sort of robotic goth party vibe. "Set Roulette" contains some of the album's most dazzling synth work, and seems to let off some of the tension built up during the preceding songs, although it still ends up blasted with effects. Even though it's informed by loss, uncertainty, and the looming threat of disaster, Optic Sink is actually quite a fun and exciting record, matching the punk energy of
NOTS as well as the D.I.Y. creativity of the best minimal wave obscurities. ~ Paul Simpson