This is a hard band to write about. Their music is brutal, funny, dark, cynical, etc... etc... basically, hardcore for brainy (no pun intended, har har) nihilists who like to wax philosophical about the profound freedom one hopes to attain by creating something unrelentingly bleak, in turn, harnessing that negative energy into world-destroying fun. HUH?
Like I said, tough to put your finger on what makes them so special. Take their song "Bargains" for example: the manic chaos of the rhythm (their drummer is incredible); the "guitar solo" (in the most VOID sense of the term); the near indecipherability of the lyrics--that is of course'til you catch that perfectly, almost cartoonishly punk sneer of "BA-R-GENS". That lone utterance conjures such a weird context of possibility: what the fuck could this song be about? Ostensibly, bargains, right? Wait, what? Oh. Okay, cool.
Their blog, Hardly Human, is no shortage of awe inspiring, bummed out hilarity. Simultaneously, they're a band acutely self-aware of their existential futility and gleefully anarchic, irreverent, and drunk. How could you not be thrilled to straddle those awkward, clashing possibilities with a tape called "WHATEVER MAN FUCK EVERYTHING"? Is this complicated position becoming any clearer? Sure, you can say "fuck everything," but you're still taking the time and energy to do it. It's this contrarian spirit that pervades every drooling lyric, guitar tear, bass bend, and drum hit. It sounds like the act of smiling at someone as they kick your teeth in: inexplicably joyous despite the threat total destruction. Feels good to know you can feel something. I guess.
No comments:
Post a Comment