REVIEW: IST IST third studio album “Protagonists” out on 31 March 2023

If you’ve followed LiveWire for a while, you’ll know of IST IST. Formed back in 2014 in Manchester the band consists of Adam Houghton (Guitar and vocals), Andy Keating (Bass), Mat Peters (Guitar and synth) and Joel Kay (Drums). A true DIY band, they formed a formidable underground following based on a reputation for intense live shows. Setting up their own label Violence Records, they released their debut album “Architecture” in 2020 during the pandemic. Honestly, this is still one of favourite albums. They were back with their sophomore title “The Art of Lying” in November 2021 which got to #87 in the UK Top 100 and establishing the band as one of the leading lights of a new era for music born out of Manchester.

Well, on 31 March 2023 their third album “Protagonists” lands and is available to order HERE

The new album has a different feel to it, and is something of a new dawn for the four-piece. As bassist Andy Keating said:

“This was our first straightforward album, which sounds strange given it's the third one. Our first album was a little bit of a back catalogue, and the rest was written in the same vein to have a coherent record. The second album was a stab in the dark and written and recorded during lockdown restrictions, but it broke us into the top 100. ‘Protagonists’ feels like the first album where there’s no pressure.”

So it’s an album about new beginnings, with stories about the tribulations of love, difficult relationships and the sense of being trapped by the past. It’s an assured album from a band that comes over as confident in themselves and their sound, but at the same time a band ready to experiment with new sounds and themes, not to satisfy a need from anyone else but to build on and perfect their own sound, and identity.

As singer Adam Houghton wrote recently “We originally started just exploring sounds and textures which appealed to us, and it evolved into fully-fledged songwriting. There are some elements which hark back to our ballsy days of a heavy sound, but we feel like this is a band expressing themselves how they want to.” The album sees Adam taking characters that caught his imagination (both fictional and real) and transporting them into new uncertain outcomes and dystopian worlds.

Recorded and mixed by Michael Whalley and IST IST at Milkshed Studios, the album was mastered by the legendary Greg Calbi and Steve Fallone at Sterling Sound (The National, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol).

We reviewed “The Art of Lying” when it came out in 2021 and gave it a creditable score of 9.5/10. I remember the band re-posting our article and saying “Thinking Caps on, how can we make up the remaining 0.5?”. Someone suggested it needed more cowbell, and maybe it did. Well… here we go – album #3 – “Protagonists” – Have they listed and added any cowbell to get that 10/10 ?

This album is most definitely from IST IST, and has all their classic features, the fuzzy loud bass from Andy, and Adams deep baritone, dark almost spoken vocals, a hauntingly brilliant sound and quite unique. But there’s a new edge to this one and we see this right from the off.

The opening track is the first single from the album, Stamp You Out. When I first heard the opening of this track when it was released, I was hooked and ordered the album immediately. It starts the album with a stunning bass solo from Andy, deep, growling and fast, the main part being one note continually repeated. It’s forceful with pounding drums and a repetitive lyric . It has a real dystopian feel to it, and a level of aggression not shown before in their material, but which is simply perfect for such a song, Stamp You Out has to have that sense of anger, aggression and power, and it delivers….. in bucketloads ! It’s an instant classic and my favourite track on the album. Indeed, it’s simply one of the best tracks I’ve heard in recent years full stop.

Next up is Something Has To Give which is a classic guitar IST IST track. It has great depth to it and an anthemic feel, which I’m sure is going to be a hit in the live set moving forwards.

Nothing More Nothing Less has a more subdued feel to it, the bass more muted and the synth lines more prominent, with an 80’s feel to them. This is one of those songs written in a style mixing fact and fiction and is a song about love, written from a woman’s perspective. It has a more pop / 80’s feel to it. I loved the video. I’m sure they shot it in my aunt’s house from the 70’s !

The intro to Mary in the Black and White Room is led by the synths from Mat, and certainly has echoes of those 80’s synth tracks from bands like New Order and OMD. With it’s layered synth tones and subtle bass it has a dark quality to it, with a sense of mystery, or intrigue. The track is based around a thought experiment proposed by the philosopher Frank Jackson, known as ‘the knowledge argument’ (or ‘Mary's room’). Hypothesising the work of a scientist called Mary, who exists in a black and white world where she has extensive access to physical descriptions of colour, but no actual human perceptual experience of colour; Jackson’s theory wonders whether Mary will gain new knowledge if she actually experiences seeing colour.

Deep eh ? Adam elaborates: “Mary in the Black and White Room is about trying to figure out if experience trumps knowledge…… Mary, exists in a black and white world but has extensive descriptions of colour, but you don’t know if she knows what they actually look like until exposed to it. Really interesting stuff.”

It is, and despite its complex back story it produces an incredible experience for the listener.

Emily starts off slow, a soft gentle synth tone drifts through the air, before the bass takes over taking the lead. The synth tones grow and develop round the bass, almost weaving in between the notes, before the guitar brings in the full melody. Once again Adam’s baritone vocals take front stage. A favourite track live, it’s great to see it here on the new album.

The album has it’s darker moments too, with tracks such as Fool’s Paradise and the final track Trapdoors sandwiching the title track Protagonists which again has an almost ethereal synth-pop feel to it. A cracking track that has this light synth tone to it, with deep dark and menacing vocals. It’s an unusual balance but it works perfectly. Fool’s Paradise have a more brooding and darker feel to them. As the album bursts into life with raw power in the form of Stamp You Out it’s ends very differently. Trapdoors starts briefly with a delightful, almost Jean-Michel Jarre like arpeggiated synth line before once again Andy’s bass takes the lead. It builds and becomes more powerful as the guitars lake on the main riff. It has a tension to it, a sense of fear which comes through in the guitar sections which feel somehow frenzied to mirror the fear of the trapdoor.

So, what do we think ? I’ve really enjoyed both IST ISTs previous albums thoroughly. I guess here we have to address the elephant in the room…. The cowbell.

Well, having listened to it loads over the last couple of weeks, I’m afraid I have to report I couldn’t find any trace of the cowbell. Despite not taking our cowbell advice, the band did say they’d get their thinking hats on to make up the other 0.5 in the score……

And boy have they done it. This album is right up there for me with “Architecture” and fully deserving of our first gold 10/10 for some time. IST IST have come of age. They have experimented with new sounds and techniques, and explored new lyrical ideas and plugged that gap fully.

A cracking album, and we think it’s well worth your time giving it a listen.

To promote the new album, IST IST are taking to the road in late March and through April 2023. Having seen them live, I can say that what you hear on vinyl, sounds even better in a live venue. If you get the chance, support one of the best up and coming bands around, buy some merch and have a drink and enjoy the wall of sound !