Fabulous Diamonds Fabulous Diamonds II

Challenging song arrangements with menacing energy, Fabulous Diamonds are firm advocators of music as a free, abstract art form with self-assurance and experimental prowess. Odd, enigmatic, and wholly idiosyncratic, the Melbourne duo’s acute sound is set out to deface not just the conventions of creativity at a grand scale, but also the ever-increasing conventions of noise pop’s supposed insurgence. Their minimalist set-up speaks more volumes than it should: waves of reverb pierce through post-punk’s volatile conduct, mainly composed of tribal motifs, meager vocal expressions, and claustrophobic distress.

Fabulous Diamonds are firm believers of diminishing any form of statement by leaving their compositions to full, open interpretation. They’ve never named a track, seem to end the songs when they've run their natural course, and gyrate the songs through constant forms of repetition. The duo even clashes with perfect synchronization. While keyboardist Jarrod Zlatic shifts through haunting keys and electric organ spooks, percussionist Nisa Venerosa creates a mood instead of merely going through the motions. Venerosa treats her drum kit as a churning factory, pounding cowbells, hi-hat redoubles, and warped snares through Zlatic’s dubbed, harmonic drone effects.

Despite the fact that Fabulous Diamonds II contains two extended bookends (both over 11 minutes), the three tracks in between are its core heart. Track 3 is an implementation of different forms of increment - it features Zlatic’s jazz-inspired, augmenting keys, while Venerosa's straight-faced vocal delivery goes through the major scale repeatedly. Track 4 is the closest the duo reaches to pulling off a single, executing a slightly dance-inspired fuse of key fluidity and tropicalia thumps that comes off more caustic than soothing.

Though Fabulous Diamonds share a resemblance to Suicide’s confrontational forms of extracting any form of consonance, the duo has a more zealous sense of harmonizing through dissonance instead of estranging its audience. The tracks themselves may seem like elongated nonsense to inexperienced eardrums, but if carefully paid attention to, intrinsic layers start to unfold, with the intention of shattering consciousness when least expected. Altogether wild, sensual, and somewhat unpredictable, Fabulous Diamonds II was meant to alert the senses through its absorbing, arrhythmic paranoia.