Conveniens – Victims of Convenience (Smith&Maz Music, 2024, originally released by Convenience Records in 1986)
Conveniens, an American underground band, emerged in the 1980s. They occupied a space few dared to claim, fusing electronic experimentation with jazz, rock, and experimental music. Between 1984 and 1987, the duo released three albums, refusing to conform. Victims of Convenience, their second full-length, originally arrived in 1986 and resurfaced in 2024 with four additional tracks and a reshuffled sequence, reaffirming its place as a lost artifact of electronic audacity.
This instrumental record draws from an eclectic palette: synth-pop, jazz, and the pioneering curiosity of early electronic music pioneers like Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, and Vangelis.
The album opens with “Commercial dancE sonG,” presented here in two versions. The first bursts forth with frenetic drum programming, evoking an off-kilter blend of 1980s synth-pop and industrial rhythms. The band describes it as “ethereal alpine down the slope with a hard slam dance beat”—a poetic abstraction that, in practice, translates to a jagged, high-energy opener.
On “Industrial MylasiA,” mechanical rhythms collide with hypnotic synth loops, channeling the more chaotic corners of progressive electronica. There’s a restless urgency in the track’s structure, as if built from fragments of discarded machine parts.
“PidgeioN memory” is a study in sonic decay. Repeating tape loops, static-drenched synths, and freeform drumming create an atmosphere of unraveling communication, radio transmissions from a distant past, half-heard and fading.
Darker tones emerge on “GeomoshadowdivE,” where eerie, freeform synthesizers stretch across a shifting percussive landscape. The piece leans into dissonance and mood, evoking a sense of unease reminiscent of early industrial ambient works.
“SalmineO” pulls from jazz structures, layering rolling toms with wandering basslines and warping synth sounds. It’s an unpredictable, shape-shifting piece, offering a moment of rhythmic fluidity before the album’s next shift.
That transition arrives with “Piano Piece,” a brief, introspective respite; delicate, spacious, and deliberately restrained, standing in contrast to the surrounding tracks’ intensity.
The title track, “VictimS of Convenience,” injects slow, rock-heavy drumming into the mix before gradually accelerating into a pulsing electropop groove. The interplay between its percussive weight and its evolving synth patterns makes it one of the album’s most dynamic moments.
As if to shatter any sense of predictability, “onN {onD}” reintroduces jagged experimentation: rhythmic loops, metallic percussion, and bursts of abstract noise, leaning toward the avant-garde.
A surprising highlight comes in “CigarettE trickE,” which gestures toward an embryonic form of electronic jazz-funk. Its offbeat groove, warm synth tones, and tight rhythmic interplay make it one of the album’s most engaging and infectious cuts.
“DiyddyD” shifts gears once more, embracing a Berlin School-style trance logic, where hypnotic synth arpeggios drift through cavernous sonic spaces, conjuring imagery of endless motion.
Then comes “Tonsure,” with percussive swells, abstract textures, and eerie synthetic flourishes which lend it a cinematic, almost ritualistic air.
A deeply personal moment arrives with “NellimonK,” a tribute to Thelonious Monk’s wife, Nelli. The piece honors its subject with fluid free-jazz piano, its phrases unpredictable yet deliberate, underpinned by unconventional drumming.
The album closes as it began, with a second version of “Commercial dancE sonG.” This iteration embellishes the original with additional synth work, pulling the album full circle.
For listeners drawn to sonic exploration, those who revel in the restless spirit of atypical electronics, freeform jazz, and leftfield experimentation, this reissue is an essential rediscovery.
Musicians: Dave Smith on synthesizer, piano; and John Maz on drums, synthesizers.