The Montreal collective twists its punk art by sidestepping poses and rock clichés.
Montreal nights have their own knack for never truly freezing, blending the sounds of traffic, moments of silence, music spilling out of a bar, and smoky construction sites at 3 a.m. The Security clearly stems from that place, maintaining a way of moving forward without smoothing over its own rough edges.
The Canadian quintet’s debut album, Stay Safe! (2023), already laid down the basics: a nerve-wracked, wobbly pop that moved forward with minimalist choruses and curved angles, like a spike refusing to slick back on top of the head. It felt fresh, sometimes uneven, but carried by an energy unstable enough to dodge poses and rock clichés. With Bingo!, the group doesn’t fix these imbalances: they deepen them.
Born out of improvisations, the structures fragment further, polyrhythms clash, guitars and synths respond to one another without seeking harmony. Art punk, no wave, egg punk, noise: The Security seems to revel in margins and counterpoints. To attach a slew of references to the record would, in any case, miss what makes its charm, its ability to maintain tension without ever giving in to chaos.
Again here, the Montreal outfit stays on a tightrope, between control and abandon, capable of moving from songs about food (Ketchup, Snack City) to a small feminist-empowerment anthem (Princess), then tackling mental health (Power Snoozer). Not everything hits the same intensity, but Bingo!’s unevenness feels less passive than self-asserted. And it is ultimately in this hesitation that the album finds its most accurate form.
Bingo! (Mothland/Bella Union/Believe). Release on June 12.
