Review: Eunuchs – Harbour Century

Style: obnoxious British post-punk, prog rock (mostly clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Black Country, New Road; Black Midi; HMLTD; The Mars Volta; The Dear Hunter; Thank You Scientist
Country: Australia
Release date: 5 April 2024

I’ve never used a meme as an intro before, but this is perfect: if you recognize more than two of these album covers, you’re too far gone. Taking the internet and your local third stream coffee shop by storm, the post-punk/prog rock/art pop hybrid scene that has blossomed in the 2020s is currently the most progressive form of rock but also, frankly, rather obnoxious with its shouty vocals and ever-changing instrumentation. Of course, obnoxious doesn’t mean bad, and instrumentally this scene contains some of the most talented and diverse musicians the prog and punk worlds have ever seen. Moreover, while they’re not British, Australia was famously a British penal colony; essentially, this counts toward the meme. And I think Eunuchs will be the next to blow up and gain widespread hipster acclaim. 

At the core of Harbour Century are seventeen different instrumentalists—most credited with multiple instruments on the album—ranging from a full quartet of saxophones to a harp to more exotic sound-sources like hydrophone recorders, bass trombone, tenor recorder, and lap steel. Eunuchs have gathered a veritable orchestra, and the diverse range of sounds from which they call upon are entertaining and rich, often used to jarring effect but clearly placed with anal deliberation. Private Detective Nick Hatzakos the First—oh you bet your ass these guys are a quirky bunch—handles engineering (along with electric bass and nylon string guitar, naturally), and the instrumentation sounds sublime, expansive and engrained naturally within their rockier context. For such a small band at the time of release, Eunuchs have a truly gifted producer.

Beyond just sounding crisp and luxurious, Eunuchs are full of energy as good punk needs to be as well as intricate composers befitting of the prog aspect of their sound. “Bird Angel Dynasty,” for instance, starts with an amazing verse replete with a trumpet matching the main melody before switching into a certified-bop of a dance beat, and of course it ends with a hybrid spoken-word singing section in an Aussie man’s accent—it is in the school of Black Country, New Road after all. Other tracks have mind-blowing main riffs (see the harp and woodwind lead of “Pat a Dragon” or “Gnome and Direction” with its homage to Thick as a Brick turned post-punk), insane buildups culminating in blast beats and screaming (“Magic Death Sea Nemesis” and “Siren”), and every one of the tracks has several highlights involving at least one of the assorted THIRTY PLUS instruments. 

I’m not usually a lyrics person myself, but these guys seem to strike the balance between self-aware pretentious garbage and decent poetry better than your average band in this scene, and while some songs feature singing that makes me roll my eyes with a bit of cringe like “Gnome and Fortune,” I usually am much more content to read along with the absurdist poetry than critique it. Without a doubt, Real Sea Police Officer’s lead singing makes the lyricism work with his wide-ranging vocals—from angered shouts à la Ashenspire to the saccharine theatricism of “Estuary of Dreams” to the aforementioned stereotypical spoken word rambling essential to obnoxious British post-punk. However, while the menagerie of instruments are produced wonderfully, Real Sea Police Officer’s vocals are almost unilaterally too quiet—a difficult balance to be sure since I certainly wouldn’t want to lose out on instrumental detail, but the vocals often get woefully lost. At the end of “Siren” where all hell breaks loose into shouted intelligibility, the insanity of the vocals loses its impact because they’re repressed by the instruments.

The biggest mar on Harbour Century’s gleaming package is the epic closer “Heroin King.” I love a bona fide prog epic more than anybody, but “Heroin King” is a slow burner and feels discontinuous from the energy and flow of the rest of the album. The long piano intro and the harp and all the other eccentricities certainly contain layers of detail in the first half of the piece to unravel and appreciate, but so does what comes before, and it does so without the somber pacing; the album is practically begging to end given most of this slowdown occurs north of the forty minute mark. Thankfully, the back half of the track picks up with stunning orchestration and several balls-to-the-wall freakouts in the closing minutes, but it’s too little, too late for a song which does not justify its bloat; the buildup is good composing, but it doesn’t reach the heights of even their shorter tracks—“Magic Death Sea Nemesis” demonstrates what I mean with its perfect pacing. 

Even if obnoxious British post-punk isn’t your thing, this might sway you; if it is, you’ll be in love. Eunuchs bring out all the tricks of their vast imaginations, and like it or not, this is the current trajectory of progressive rock. These guys deserve the imminent blow up of popularity.

Recommended tracks: Magic Death Sea Nemesis, Bird Angel Dynasty, Hierophant
You may also like: Half Empty Glasshouse, Ashenspire, Adjy, All Traps on Earth
Final verdict: 7.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram

Label: independent

Eunuchs is:
– Captain Enzo Legge: Electric Guitar, Electric Bass, Nylon String Guitar, Enzomophone, Harmonium, Piano, Banjo, Singing, Accordion, Bass Synth
– Master Mariner Kristo Langkjær: Drum Kit, Vibraphone, Glockenspiel, Electric Guitar, Electric Bass, Auxiliary Percussion, Hydrophone Recording, Harmonium, Singing
– Finn Fowke of Finn’s famous laundromat: Flute, Bass Recorder, Tenor Recorder, Electric Bass
– Private Detective Nick Hatzakos the first: Engineering, Production, Electric Bass, Nylon String Guitar