THE SoFT MooN
Criminal 7/10
Fuelled by a Catholic guilt no doubt intensified by his move from America’s West Coast to Italy, Criminal finds Luis Vasquez battling demons. Beginning with the caustic “Burn” and a guiding mantra – “I can’t control myself!” – its titles regularly confirm his mood, with “the Pain”’s brittle rhythms recalling late Disco Inferno’s claustrophobia and “ILL” a mess of synths wailing and trumpeting like panicked elephants. “Young” offers brief flashes of a youthful Cure, but the fuzzy “Choke”, about cocaine abuse, is underpinned by a malignant industrial beat, and the dominant mood remains that of an emaciated, homicidal Gary Numan.