Cover for "First Two Seven Inches" by Minor Threat
I love record stores.
There’s something unparalleled about walking into a brick-and-mortar shop and seeing rows upon rows of crates and shelves, the walls papered with posters and zine covers and collages. It’s the best kind of liminal space.
The EP was a primary contributor to the soundtrack of my late teens. At the time, I lived in a beach town still recovering from the previous year’s hurricane.
A primier vacation spot for many middle-class families, the town fell to ruin in the off season. Homelessness, drug addiction and violent crime underscored the area’s stark wealth disparity.
The “clean” coastline was peppered with million-dollar beach homes and luxury condos. Ten miles inland, average citizens struggled to make ends meet amid a stifling job market.
Many turned to drugs and alcohol as a means of making life bearable. Among these individuals were friends, coworkers and bosses.
It was during this time that I became first acquainted with Minor Threat. The band’s jilting, ragged strains mirrored my own consternation with the building chaos in my inner circle.
Cap'n Jazz at a 2010 performance. Photo courtesy of Nicole Kibert, under Creative Commons License CC BY-ND 2.0
I heard people nitpick the definition of midwest emo long before I began listening to the twinkly, mathy indie-emo that most consider to be actual midwest emo.
For every pretentious boyfriend I’ve had who’s corrected me when I slipped up and put Mom Jeans into the midwest emo category, there are 100 other people on Reddit telling a well-meaning user that no, Joyce Manor is not real emo.
Theatre’s Kiss, a self-described “depressive post-punk” artist who I discovered entirely by accident, has fundamentally changed my life with their newest album.
“Leidensmelodien“, released Dec. 30, 2022, was the best belated Christmas gift a goth could ask for. This transcendental musical experience is like walking through an arctic, sobering dream.
Theatre’s Kiss
I discovered Theatre’s Kiss in the fall of 2022 while attempting to compose a setlist for my then-radio show, “The Superego” (currently on summer hiatus).
At the time, the extent of the artist’s discography was a single album — Self Titled — and six short tracks.
Those half-dozen songs fully ensnared me.
I was one of about sixty-eight monthly listeners on Spotify. And like those like-minded peers, I absolutely adored the tracks “Vulnerable” and “König.”
There was something about the style of the songs that really got to me.
As a (guilty) fan of the The Smiths for their heart-twinging melancholia, the plaintive voice of the (unnamed) vocalist struck a similar chord.
And with the gothic undertow of spectral synths and a depressive guitar added to the mix, I had found my new favorite band.
Album cover for Leidensmelodien by Theatre’s Kiss
“Leidensmelodien”
As the creator of Theatre’s Kiss explains in a vague tagline at the end of their Spotify profile:
“It’s all about the atmosphere, nothing else matters.”
And “Leidensmelodien” is purely atmospheric.
The album’s opening track, “Downfall,” is entirely instrumental.
A sullen guitar-synth combo engages in a morose conversation, the spaces between sounds growing smaller and smaller as the song progresses and the two “voices” seem to overlap.
By the end, we’re left with a single sensation before the instruments fade out and a distinctly medieval arrangement ushers us into the next track, “Schizo.”
This five-minute song is insanely complex.
The vocals are brooding and occasionally layered to create a hazy, ominous effect.
Throughout the song, a crisp scream reminiscent of Doom Metal echoes the words of the vocalist — an elusive individual known only as “Fassse Lua” — much like screeching wind.
The contrast between these two voices, one pleasantly soft and the other jagged and rough, creates a vivid and uncanny harmony.
Though it stands as the second track of the album, “Schizo” certainly sets the tone for the rest of the piece as existing somewhere between nightmares and dreams.
The experimental combination of different ghostly and foreboding sounds means that every track on this album is a new and unique experience.
It’s almost operatic.
Album cover for Self Titled by Theatre’s Kiss
The Bigger Picture
“Leidensmelodien” is an album about grief.
Or rather, “melodies of suffering.”
And as the mind behind Theatre’s Kiss teases, this album (as well as Self Titled) is but a single chapter in a larger project.
WKNC DJs standing in front of the WKNC Shack at Shack-A-Thon 2023.
Photo by Rachel Laminack, WKNC
Written by Eilee Centeno, WKNC Promotions Director
WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2 joined student organizations from across NC State to raise more than $1,600 for Habitat for Humanity in the annual Shack-A-Thon fundraiser.
Before Poppy was the musician that she is today, most knew her as a YouTube sensation who gained popularity for her cryptic videos. “I Disagree,” released in January 2020, was a large departure from Poppy’s previous work, which was mostly pop. “I Disagree” does a lot of genre-blending, but the biggest shock of the album to Poppy’s fans was the heavy metal influence that reverberated through the album.
Poppy’s most recent album prior to the release of “I Disagree” was “Am I A Girl?,” which offered hints of the soon-to-come metal genre that Poppy would embrace in its last two tracks, “Play Destroy,” featuring Grimes, and “X.”
Song Highlights
I will admit that I am a huge fan of this album and have probably listened to it enough to memorize every beat and syllable spoken throughout it.
Its first track, titled “Concrete,” instantly introduces the sort of genre-mixing Poppy will go on to ace through the rest of the album. It’s not just genre-ambiguous, but actually switches back and forth between heavy metal (complete with guitar shredding and even some screaming) and bubblegum pop.
“Anything Like Me” contains lyricism that reinforces Poppy’s purpose in making this album–
Sorry for what I’ve become Because I’m becoming someone
“Anything Like Me” – Poppy
She goes on in this song to talk about a girl who seems to represent the things that Poppy is supposed to be, but doesn’t wish to be.
I feel her heart beating in me Get her out of me
“Anything Like Me” – Poppy
Poppy works throughout the album to express the idea that conformity is a disease. In “BLOODMONEY,” she asks–
What do you believe when everyone is watching?
“BLOODMONEY” – Poppy
And in “Fill The Crown,” she says,
You can be anyone you want to be
You can be free, you can be free
“Fill The Crown” – Poppy
Poppy is clearly expressing her desire for individuality, likely in response to the pressures she felt around making music in an industry and working with producers who executed excessive control over her work.
Conclusion
Poppy’s evolution does not seem to be finished yet. From electronic pop in her first album “Poppy.Computer” to the metal in “I Disagree,” and even to the alt-rock/indie vibes of her most recent album, “Flux,” Poppy seems to be innovating in every area she can, not just with her music, but with her character and stage presence as well.
Harsh Symmetry’s discography draws from the classic sounds of 80s post-punk and new wave with the influences of contemporary gothic genres like darkwave and minimal wave.
The resulting sounds are both nostalgic and ethereal.
