Post Honeymoon: Post Honeymoon

Make no mistake about it, Post Honeymoon’s self-titled debut album isn’t the disc you’ll break out at your next party — unless that party involves a casket. The Chicago-based husband-and-wife duo creates a distinct sound full of lo-fi, fuzzed-out, buzzed-out, rather retro goth club music. Vocally, Rachel Shindelman sounds like Debbie Harry if she spent her summers with the Addams Family, listening to nothing but old Siouxsie albums and taking harpsichord lessons from Lurch. Her husband, Nick Kraska, provides contributions felt by way of Post Honeymoon’s rhythm section, playing and programming drums alongside his prominent bass on tracks like “The Night Before”.

At its best, Post Honeymoon’s compositions are impressive, particularly when you pause to consider that the band’s booming sound is attributed to two members. The contrasting, in-the-round vocals on “First-World Problems”, with Shindelman on lead and Kraska on back-up vocals, lends something special and unique to the track. At its worst, the duo takes too long to get to the nitty gritty of a song. “Dirge” leads with slow, solemn drum beats, but before things get boring, the pipe organ and kick drum mercifully bust in, putting the “fun” in “funeral” — or at least as much fun as Post Honeymoon is capable of having. Other tracks like “Night Guard” and “Little Messes” also invoke mixed feelings: On one hand, it’s an unusual throwback to old school goth club music. On the other, this retro feel comes across as somewhat cliché — making the listener wonder if there is some tongue-in-cheek joke he or she is not being let in on.