Cassette
Our radar was seemingly on the blink when Offen rolled out the second collaboration between shop lynchpin Valentina Magaletii and Zongamin at the tail end of December '24, with the tapes selling out in an instant (au naturale). Fortunately, no great harm done, since we've another bite at the cherry with this second batch and an opportunity to assess exactly why such a fired-up collection of hyper-rhythmical post-punk abstractions was ushered into the world in such a low-key manner. It's Cold In Baltimore (killer title) is a more than substantial follow-up to the well-received debut of 2023, Suono Assente (the one with the cat in a box on the front), Magaletti in her lesser-heard club mode and the pair aligning with what feels like a great affinity for the industrial thrust of a particular version of Berlin. The production is pleasingly blown-out and metal-dance adjacent, caught somewhere between the primitive expulsions of CHBB, the physicality of prime L.I.E.S and Cut Hands' metallic dub KO. Don't let the understated roll out fool ya - this is heavy duty action with formidable pedigree.
