EP Review: The DSM IV – Negative Utopia (9×9 Records)

Liverpool gothic alt-pop trio The DSM IV will release their new EP, ‘Negative Utopia’, via local independent label heroes 9×9 Records on January 21st, 2025.

Photo Credit: @richiebyates

At times, listening to Negative Utopia is akin to a fever dream. Not just because of its surrealistic antics, but because it has garish goth tones that combine retro styles with modern thinking, and somehow, ends up being alternatively anthemic. It’s a combination, and a process, that really shouldn’t work, yet here we are. Sweaty, shaking, eyes rolling around the head, and completely lost in a world of hyperrealism.

It’s not only a unique listen, but a fascinating one, as its danceable qualities mesh intensely with its lyrical messages. Each of the six tracks showcase a band preaching from a position of understanding, expectation, and desire. All while holding obscure and enigmatic rhythms hostage.

Yet, it is the vividness of the EP experience that has long lasting effect. The DSM IV’s weirdness is bright and colourful, even when utilising the hues of goth, which do tend to be on the darker side of things. It’s because this release is so much more than one singular genre or one singular definition. In fact, words can hardly explain the experience, as it’s more about feelings than anything else. Feel excited, feel connected, feel a sense of longing, feel something, it’s more of a guarantee than you first might expect.

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The DSM IV – Negative Utopia Track Listing:

1. Pink Lady
2. Pray Like a Fool
3. Wise Guy
4. Racist Man Rmx
5. Isolation
6. Pennywise Hologram Cowboy Rmx




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The DSM IV - Negative Utopia (9x9 Records)
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