ALBUM REVIEW: Natural Habitat — Treeboy & Arc

Leeds is again proving that it has the latest and greatest of emerging post-punk and art-rock talent. TREEBOY & ARC threw themselves into the spoken word, occasionally raising their voice for effect, mix in 2019 and have since worked with the likes of Speedy Wunderground — anything they touch turns to gold, so surely this will be good. The quintet’s debut album Natural Habitat has clear promise, but how does it hold up against their peers’ exports and high expectations?

Opener Midnight Mass is what you’ve more than likely come to expect for any post-punk adjacent releases in the UK over the past couple of years: synths that sound like lots of important buttons and levers being pushed, and moments where the guitar and bass pick up for a dramatic finish. It’s similar in Virtual Reality Check; find a wriggly bassline, fairly angular riff and a uniform vocal delivery throughout to soundtrack an analysis of trend topics. Cool a couple of years ago but lacks the same effect in 2023. Attempting to be a bit cynical isn’t thought provoking in the same way anymore, now it’s drying up. That rose bush has been picked enough, which is increasingly being proven across these sorts of releases. 

TREEBOY & ARC’s strength is clearly in the ambience they produce, a sneering and uneasy one at times which is highlighted by the more frivolous moments. It’s not at the next level, not at the sweet spot that sets it apart from other work, when someone can really immerse themselves in your sound is when they can connect with it. The introspection of Human Catastrophe is the biggest stride in the right direction, sick with a humiliating self-deprecating narrative, it truly represents the most cringeworthy parts of us in their over analysis and anxious breakdown. Its surreality gives it the substance that the album deserves, which it does have in other places, but it lacks on back-to-back tracks. 

Character Building is perfect, encapsulating the little things from the day to day, grounded enough for a small band with big ambition. The right balance between all things angular and chugging makes for the needed hit of adrenaline. Natural Habitat would have benefited from being an EP, being packaged much more concisely for the greater effect. TREEBOY & ARC certainly show promise in the endlessly overflowing infinity pool of post-punk releases, but now wasn’t their moment to release a bigger body of work. There’s too many thoughts and tangents that get loose, sometimes if they don’t align then it just doesn’t work on an album. 

Rating: 6/10

Natural Habitat is set for release on July 7th via self-release.

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