On this startling artifact from productive cassette label Skrot Up, we encounter Joy Division inflected post-punk played over static-coated faux-broadcasts sampled from Night of the Living Dead. It's a starkly macabre combination, best suited to late night listening -- the sort of thing you'd expect to hear blasting through post-apocalyptic nightclubs. Grave Babies' songs are served cold yet melodic, with chilling drum machine beats and a convincing odor of isolated detachment. Many of these songs remind me of eighties-era For Against; these folks employ similar vocal melodies to the Nebraskan ensemble, though tend towards a more rugged tumult of beats on most tracks. The most memorable tracks come on the glorious first side, where several songs are steeped in somehow iconic pop hooks. “Eating Babies” is especially glorious, as is brief but peculiarly uplifting “Drugs.” Gothic “Blood” is a tad bland for my tastes, but the band truly gets into gear for the power-punch of “Shiver” and “Skeletal Shades.” The duo has got those lovely 80s The Sound / Joy Division guitars that leave you thinking, “I'm so fucking cool for listening to this shit.” Side B is less melodic and more ragged than the other side, topped by the torrential drum machine of hysterical “Blood Forever.” Still, final track “Graves” is a respectable, vaguely wistful send-off that exits into a glorious static whistle and more walking-dead talk. When all is said and done, Graveface is an inviting adventure in lo-fi post-punk, replete with impressively classic-sounding melodies, their choruses garbled in suffocating tape fuzz. 7/10 -- Michael Tau (16 December, 2009)