Mandy, Indiana ‘URGH’ review: chaos and catharsis from a truly unique band

You’ll have to speak French to understand first-hand most of what Valentine Caulfield says across Mandy, Indiana’s stunning new album, but its razor-sharp delivery and frantic energy makes it abundantly clear, through any language barrier, that her life depends on it.

Specifically, Caulfield is referencing the genocide in Gaza, the power of collective action and resistance, and also her own health, which saw her write and record the majority of the new album while suffering from a condition that blinded her in one eye. If that doesn’t sound visceral and unpleasant enough, she titled the album URGH.

The Manchester band’s debut album, 2023’s I’ve Seen a Way, introduced a band that straddle the electronic and noise rock worlds, all fronted by an enigmatic vocalist. Here, the beats and riffs behind Caulfield get sharper and more focused. On top, her delivery hits home with even greater ferocity and power.

Across URGH, Mandy, Indiana can feel like five bands at once, like when Caulfield bursts past an ear-splitting barrage of bass to speak her truth with a wildly Auto-Tuned vocal on opener ‘Sevastopol’, or when ‘Magazine’ turns on a sixpence from a wailing noisy rock song into a dirty, thumping techno track. The juxtapositions are never less than thrilling.

Light relief isn’t the point of the record, but ‘try saying’ manages to sneak through as a huge if unusual earworm regardless. Most of the rest of this outstanding record, though, simply asks you to fully submit to its barrage of noise and hope catharsis comes from within the chaos.