Artist: Postmadonna
Album: POSTMADONNA
Original Release Date: April 1, 2013

I stumbled upon Seattle’s Postmadonna on Bandcamp in the latter half of 2013, greeted with vivid colors, intriguing song titles, and a unique, yet somewhat brief self-titled effort boasting nine accessible experimental, math-rock tracks that had thoughts of Tera Melos, Cursive, and Fang Island rattling around in my head simultaneously. One Bandcamp user and supporter sums up the experience of listening through this album with ease: “The only problem with this record is that it left me wanting more!”

After listening through only the first few tracks of POSTMADONNA, I noticed that the band had physical merch available and upon witnessing the beautiful vinyl options for the album, I just knew that I had to get my hands on a copy.

Pressing Info

Postmadonna’s self-titled release was first pressed on three separate mixed-color variants limited to only 250 copies combined. The variants include a pink, purple, and teal option, each of which have significant marbling and include accents of the other colors as well. The album is pressed on 130-gram vinyl, plays at 33RPM, and is available via the band’s Bandcamp for a very affordable $11 plus $5 shipping within the US.

Packaging & Presentation

Postmadonna chose somewhat of a simple route for presentation of the physical release but spared no expenses when it came to the attractiveness of the visuals. The album contains a custom jacket with a glossy-textured finish that feels nice to the touch and really makes the vibrant colors pop. The artwork consists primarily of a Pepto Bismol pink base but the Madonna-inspired cover artwork contains just about every color found in a box of Crayolas.

No lyric sheet was included with the album which may seem unusual or even disappointing to some collectors but being an independent band self-funding a release such as this, Postmadonna had to choose what was most important to include as costs rose with each additional detail. The band has also explained that there wasn’t necessarily “much desire to prominently display [their] lyrics either,” and that the options available weren’t entirely satisfying. The album’s credits, however, are displayed on the bottom of the back cover below the track listing for both sides of the record. Also included within the packaging is a digital download code which has obviously become more prominent with vinyl releases and is always a nice bonus for your money.

The album itself is really beautiful. I’m a sucker for marbled wax and even as I received the more purple mixed-color colorway, all three, in photos, look really great. My copy has really prominent pink and teal-ish swirls within the predominately purple vinyl and all three variants look to accentuate the album artwork perfectly. The vinyl weight being somewhat on the lighter side may be a downfall or deal-breaker for the overly particular collector but as I personally wouldn’t consider myself to be too picky when it comes to that aspect of a vinyl record, it’s not a deterrent for me. Skinny records need love too!

Sound Quality

POSTMADONNA sounds great on vinyl. As long as there’re no mixing or production issues, I think most math, post, and indie rock tends to sound great on vinyl anyway, but Postmadonna’s unique brand of sporadic, noisy math works really well in this format. The sound is clear and distinct, and of course, the louder the better. My 15-month-old daughter was dancing to it today so if that counts for anything, there you go. If it doesn’t, well, I don’t care because my daughter likes Postmadonna and she has excellent taste.

Wrap-Up

Postmadonna is a band that deserves to be discovered — at least far more than they have been so far. In time, I’m sure their fanbase will grow significantly as this release gets shared and ‘word of mouth’ does its part to garner new listeners. With shipping included, this vinyl release is only $10 more than a digital download and it comes with one of those included, so for anyone interested in this band or any talent in the aforementioned genres, grab a copy because you will not be disappointed. And when the band does reach their inevitable popularity, you’ll have their first vinyl release to gloat with. There are still copies available through the band so act fast.

Review written by: Brian Lion — (Follow him on Twitter)

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Brian Leak

Editor-In-Chief. King of forgetting drinks in the freezer. Pop culture pack rat. X-Phile. LOST apologist.

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