#maruja

Post rock, like all genres, has its fair share of egos – but one rarely hears those egos straining to dominate a recording quite like on Maruja’s Pain to Power. The culprits are vocalist Harry Wilkinson and saxophonist Joe Carroll; Carroll loudly and unimaginatively employs the same spiralling ‘spiritual’ jazz arpeggios again and again, Wilkinson self-importantly raps platitudes, throwing out whatever his audience wants to hear without any hint of lived experience or genuine empathy. Both are atrocious, the band’s least talented members and more audible than ever before.