IAN – Come On Everybody, Let’s Do Nothing!
Release Date: 17th October 2025
Label: Human Worth
Bandcamp
Genre: Post-Rock, Post-Metal, Doom, Sludge, Noise.
FFO: Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Cult of Luna, Silver Mt Zion.
Review By: Pete Wall
With their debut album Come On Everybody, Let’s Do Nothing!, London five-piece IAN deliver a lightning bolt of both post-rock grandeur and post-metal intensity.
Having collaborated in various bands, worked together in another life at Exeter’s Cavern Club, and built their bonds across two decades of friendship, the quintet reconnected musically and established IAN during the uncertain days of the pandemic, emerging as a unit after the world reopened. The album title feels like a wry reference to the maddening stasis of lockdown, but its release into the world is the culmination of the band touring and perfecting their sound over the past few years. The result is something very special indeed, with light and shade dynamics and a majestic sense of scale enhanced by the artful mixing and production from Wayne Adams (Petbrick, Big Lad) at underground creative hotbed Bear Bites Horse studio.
Launching a doom/noise project off the back of a world-crippling health disaster might suggest something unremittingly bleak were it not for the rich vein of humour cutting through the band’s approach to their own work. As if to perfectly sum this up, they describe the band as “a whisper on the wind, the fur of a cat, the laugh of a baby, the scowl of an old man, the skin of a leper”. Make of that what you will, but whatever you do, don’t sleep on IAN.
The album comprises five expansive, dirge-like movements that run the gamut from abrasive to serene to avant-garde, often within a single track. Opener Manuel comes out of the gate with the ferocity of a sludgier Will Haven replete with agonised screams, before seamlessly transitioning into a cello-led mid-section that wouldn’t be out of place on a Silver Mt Zion record, and then resolving with a close that brings back the opening riff, drops the vocal, and turns the intensity dial way up. It’s one hell of a statement of intent.
IAN have the ability to scratch multiple musical itches with a confidence and aplomb that is undeniable. Whether it’s Ted Reynolds’ grab-you-by-the-throat vocal delivery that calls to mind Christian Bonnesen (New Money, ex-LLNN), the doom-infused riffs that will shake you from your stupor, or the sheer beauty of Hannah Asprey’s mournful cello; there’s so much that works both in isolation and, vitally, in combination. A great illustration of this comes on fourth track Selma that builds from a field recording of not-so-distant childlike voices into a gorgeous cello, guitar, and percussion interplay before metamorphosing into a Pelican-inflected central riff as the track comes into dark bloom.
With their repertoire and tight bond established beyond any reasonable doubt, IAN then one-up themselves with album closer Not Erotic / Cop Film (End Credits) a near-14-minute showcase traversing every corner of a multifarious territory that demands repeat visits. It’s a stellar end to a stirring, captivating debut.
(4.5 / 5)
