Free Pizza ‘Berlin, DE’

Words by Russell Carstens

With seven tracks clocking in at less than 15 minutes, Free Pizza has made a brief, modern-day post-punk statement on Berlin, DE. Their style is consistently minimal . . . no walls of sound to be heard here. It’s as if Young Marble Giants played a more aggressive brand of punk, mixed it with Wire’s sense of art and brevity, but stayed true to their skeletal ways.

Prominently mixed and melodic basslines dance over clean, phased-out guitars and tight, precise drums on “Dancing.” They lament over waiting for water to boil on “Patience,” while observing that “Sometimes you just need to let things out / Let those things work themselves out,” on “The Fall.” Other stand-out lyrics include “I feel like crying, but I never do / I’m just sighing.” And although one’s shoes may be falling apart at the seams on “Slipping,” poignant optimism boasts, “All my life it’s so beautiful to me.”

Some diversity in the texture of their recordings would provide more aural depth, but Free Pizza’s approach to songwriting and eager energy certainly capture something worthwhile on Berlin, DE.