Category: Band/Artist Profile

An in-depth look at bands and solo artists

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Band/Artist Profile Local Music New Album Review

“The Magpie”: More of Raleigh’s Finest

The Magpie cover art for The Magpie
The Magpie cover art for their self-titled release "The Magpie".

Raleigh natives, The Magpie, released their first studio album this year through Firelight Records. We are taken on a ride through the band’s love of psychedelic rock, hardcore punk and everything hard rock n’ roll.

This album is yet another of Raleigh’s newest additions to the scene of heavy rock and metal (although a little on the lighter side of metal), so that’s why I’m taking a look at it today. 

The Magpie is composed of three band members: Erik Sugg (guitar and vocals), Brian Walsby (drums) and Mike Deloatch (bass and vocals). “The Magpie” (according to their Bandcamp page) was recorded and engineered by Mike Dean, a member of Corrosion of Conformity – another NC band, who is a metal staple with loads of influence.

Never judge a book by its cover or whatever that stupid cliche is supposed to signify, but I love the album art for this album. The art style clicked when I was looking for a local band to write about this week. The magpie perched a top the skull feels spooky and very autumn-y.

Let’s dive into The Magpie’s first album – “The Magpie”:

“Ceremony for a Fat Lip”

It’s the second track of the album and we already get Metallica-like vocals as emphasis behind Sugg’s warbling calls. “Ceremony for a Fat Lip” is a great blend of heavy rock guitar and drums with a more psychedelic rock vocal base reminiscent of Ween’s “The Mollusk” (to me at least).

“Just One Drop”

A slower start in this track, leads to classic rock n’ roll sounds emanating from The Magpie here. “Just One Drop” explores the mind in a fever dream state. After the first couple verses, Sugg begins repeating the chorus in a sickening repetitive pattern that leaves you questioning your senses for a minute. This track drips slowly into your system, filling you with hallucinogenic effects that don’t start infecting you until the last minute of the song. 

“Derailed”

The shortest song on the album starts off with a similar guitar intro to the rest of the tracks, but then blazes off course immediately. There are a few non FCC approved words in the song, but that’s because of its heavy punk influence. “Derailed” differs wildly from the rest of the album because of the vocal change-up into hardcore screams. I really enjoy The Magpie’s take on hardcore punk, and I’d love to hear a whole album like this from them soon. 

“Fix It”

A nice hint of vocal warbles and smooth guitar riffs bring forth sounds from The Magpie. It really shows their psychedelic rock sound spewing out. This track got more repeated lyrics than any on the rest of the track, but when Sugg belts out, “fix it”, I can’t help but rock my head forward to the beat.

Conclusions:

I thoroughly enjoyed this album. The Magpie did a wonderful job using their experiences from past bands and sounds to create a first album with such a wild ride like this. I hope to be able to catch a live show from them in the future. I know they frequent Pour House and other Raleigh venues, so if you’re from the area, be searching for The Magpie.

Drink crow’s milk — make ur bones strong,

Ben

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Band/Artist Profile

Track Review: “my little tony” by bar italia

Cover art for bar italia's single, "my little tony". Zoomed in redscale image of an open mouth.
Cover art for bar italia's single, "my little tony".

bar italia are going back to the garage.

For those unfamiliar, bar italia is a London, England-based band specializing in their own brand of moody, off-kilter and charmingly experimental guitar alt-pop. It’s hard to square them into a genre, but the ol’ reliable “post-punk” label may be a half-decent signifier for curious ears.

Recently, bar italia released their newest single, “my little tony”.

“my little tony” is the first single from their newly announced upcoming album, entitled The Twits (releasing November 3rd on Matador Records). “tony” throws aside the slick, dynamically matured and produced sound of their previous release, “Tracey Denim”, in favor of a surprisingly raucous sound and rawer sensibility. 

It’s a tune that rambles as much as it roars. 

Things kick off immediately upon hitting play. Guitars- already around peak volume- charge in, blended together with the delightfully distorted bassline in a thick soup of rock-and-roll bliss. The chords are a bit muddled in the cacophony, but not enough to warrant concern. It’s fun.

Nina Cristante’s playful and smoothly mocking vocals follow almost immediately; “your pretentious ways… make me die a little,” she sings, humbling an ambiguous subject (Tony? Is that you?). The rest of her first verse continues in a similar fashion, and her refrain “keep playing with my receiving hand… ‘cause you know you lost the game” plays well after the home-run hook that gets laid down by the band. Things repeat and continue.

The brief instrumental towards the end of the song provides a fleeting break from the loopy structure, but when the refrain begins again, you find yourself feeling as though there are perhaps adjectives besides “loopy” that better characterize the continual nature of the track. Maybe “awesome” is a better word. Or perhaps you’re too busy tapping your foot to care.

The track ends the same way it began: without apology.

Alternating between spaced-out, delightfully dusty yet infectious late-night-walk-home rock and lushly charged indie that nears a description of anthemic, bar italia’s last album “Tracey Denim” was a hooky, thoughtfully produced crop of moody bangers. Things seem to change with “my little tony”; whereas “Tracey Denim” recalled the darker, more geometric songwriting of early-2000s Pinback or Interpol, “tony” harkens back more so to loosely spun garage influences of the same era.

The band retains its edge and recognizability with their simple, catchy vocal lines and hallmark London aesthetics, and despite its heavy strumminess, the track fortunately manages to avoid straying too close to the unforgiving gravitational pull of the (arguably) overly revivalist (and now dated) garage rock sound of the 2010s. “tony” is familiar, but thankfully it doesn’t beat a dead horse. Both Tracey Denim and “tony” prove that a certain degree of referentiality is okay, and bar italia knows this more than anyone. 

Does it set off alarm bells for a shift in their sound? Perhaps it’s a bit early to tell. But make no mistake- this is still the bar italia we love- and they (and I) think you should stick around for more.

Watch the music video for “my little tony” below.

-mike utt

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Band/Artist Profile Blog

Artist Profile: Infected Mushroom

Cover for "Return to the Sauce" by Infected Mushroom

When I was in the seventh grade, I discovered Infected Mushroom.

“Converting Vegetarians,” a track from the 2003 album of the same name, was my first taste of the band’s genre-defying psychedelic sound.

Cover for “Friends on Mushrooms” by Infected Mushroom

Music was never the same for me after.

Infected Mushroom

A duo composed of Israeli producers Amit “Duvdev” Duvdevani and Erez Eisen, Infected Mushroom has been pioneering psytrance for over twenty-five years.

Known for their groundbreaking, genre-defying mastery, Infected Mushroom has been a powerhouse since 1999.

Their discography consists of twelve studio albums, one compilation album, four extended plays and thirty singles.

“Converting Vegetarians”

Infected Mushroom’s 2003 album, “Converting Vegetarians,” laid out a full two and a half hours of pure experimental psychedelia.

With sprawls of trancelike rhythms and beats, one does not simply listen to the album, but rather allow themselves to fall into it headfirst.

Cover for “Converting Vegatarians” by Infected Mushroom

With most tracks 5 or more minutes long, each song can either stand alone or meld into a broader tapestry of musical innovation.

“Converting Vegetarians” the song sticks out to me in particular, primarily for its nostalgic appeal.

The song opens with an almost frightening industrial strain that seems to bounce off of imaginary walls before being softened by an electronic and percussive beat.

As the song progresses, there’s a very real sense of movement as sounds metamorphoze and grow with the addition of new elements.

“Vicious Delicious”

Released in 2007, “Vicious Delicious” proved to have a monumental chokehold on alternative teenagers.

The album’s arguably most-known track, “Becoming Insane,” still stands as one of Infected Mushroom’s finest works.

Cover for “Vicious Delicious” by Infected Mushroom

While a surface-level appraisal of the song may find it to be a basic electronic track, deeper inspection reveals subtle intricacies amid the trailing strings of beats.

There’s a notable Latin American influence, with smooth guitar traversing throughout the song like a slithering snake.

“Army of Mushrooms”

Infected Mushroom’s 2012 album, “Army of Mushrooms,” is another of their particularly iconic releases.

Featuring robust tracks such as “U R So F****d,” “Serve My Thirst” and “I Shine,” the album is an excellent culmination of years of innovation and experimentation by Duvdevani and Elsen.

Cover for “Army of Mushrooms” by Infected Mushroom

I also find the album to be among their most approachable, with more vocals and less overall instrumental.

The tracks also tend to pass by quicker, which can be beneficial for individuals not accustomed to thirteen-minute sprawls of electronica.

Other Recommendations

  • “Saeed” from “Legend of the Black Shawarma”
  • “Killing Time” from “Legend of the Black Shawarma”
  • “I’m The Supervisor” from “I’m The Supervisor”
  • “Guitarmass” from “Head of NASA and the 2 Amish Boys”
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Band/Artist Profile Concert Preview

Concert Preview: Deeper/Godcaster

As we near the halfway point of the fall semester, — some of us walking, some of us lumbering like wounded animals — the necessity for distraction and/or stimulation abounds.

For me personally, the monotony of the daily grind (waking up at 7 a.m., riding the Wolfline, walking to class, rinse and repeat) compounds in a strong desire to Go To Shows.

Photo by Evgeniy Smersh on Unsplash

The biggest challenge for the average show-goer (aside from a litany of counfounding variables surrounding money, transportation and our ongoing(?) public health crisis) is knowing when and where shows are happening.

As somebody who has missed several shows already this year, I’m choosing to use my platform for the public good.

This upcoming Saturday (September 30), rock bands Godcaster and Deeper are playing live at Durham’s Pinhook at 7:00 p.m.

Where will you find yourself this weekend?

Godcaster

Godcaster is an art rock sextet based in Brooklyn, New York.

As part of their ongoing “Like a Heartache in Your Head” American tour, they’ll be making a stop in Durham this Saturday.

How can one best describe the sound of Godcaster? The band has breadth, spanning a wide range of sounds and sensations across their discography.

Cover for “Long Haired Locusts” by Godcaster

Comparable to Black Midi, Godcaster delivers tracks ranging from saccharine sweetness to guttural fervor, pivoting between energies with dizzying abruptness.

While some Godcaster songs inspire visions of sprawling meadows and fawns drinking from babbling brooks, others pass by in a whirlwind of dionysian frenzy.

Deeper

Hailing from Chicago, Illinois, Deeper is an idyllic post-punk band sounding straight out of the garage.

My first encounter with the band came back in 2020 with their album “Auto-Pain.”

Cover for “Auto-Pain” by Deeper

Oscillating between the realms of indie rock and post-punk, “Auto-Pain” is a great place to start exploring the band’s discography.

Charmingly youthful and upbeat, Deeper’s music paints a vast mural of pleasing rhythms and beats that fill the chest like bees in a hive.

Final Thoughts

I’ll be dragging my baby brother to this gig on Saturday (so expect a concert review in these next few weeks) as part of my plan to help him speed run his “pretentious music boy” phase.

Whether or not this is possible remains to be seen.

But I’m excited for the opportunity to share this experience with him and to, for just a couple hours, fill my brain with jilting guitar instead of academic journals.

Keep an eye out for more concert previews, which I will be hopefully releasing in a more timely manner than this one.

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Band/Artist Profile Classic Album Review

Artist Spotlight: Wire

Photo by Daniel Fazio on Unsplash

Music is an artform, but only some songs really sound like art.

Listening through the discography of Wire feels like traversing the halls of a vast and ever-changing art museum.

Wire’s musical identity has always been fluid, unrestricted by genre and unburdened by convention.

Photo by Intricate Explorer on Unsplash

Though perhaps stylistically inconsistent, the works of Wire maintain tactile continuity.

Every song feels like a lungful of cool coastal air, idyllic and rustic and contemplative. A collection of experimental brushstrokes.

As October approaches, the works of Wire capture the dual melancholy-yearning invoked by the transition from summer into fall.

“Pink Flag”

Largely considered to be a landmark album, Wire debuted with the release of “Pink Flag” in 1977.

A collection of 21 songs with an overall runtime of just under 36 minutes, “Pink Flag” presents a marked deconstruction of the punk genre.

Cover for “Pink Flag” by Wire

Though most of the tracks on the album are short, with some falling under 30 seconds, the album passes by at a remarkably slow pace.

It’s clear that Wire was methodical in their composition of the album, only remaining with each track for as long as absolutely necessary.

The resulting album presents something adjacently punk — punk stripped of its blaring paint — cultivated at a distance.

Post-punk before post-punk had really begun.

The album’s cover, I think, most adequately represents the album’s sound: minimalist, uncomplicated and sunbleached.

Recommended Tracks: “Three Girl Rhumba,” “Fragile,” “1 2 X U”

“Chairs Missing”

Wire’s second album, released 1978, marked the band’s progression further into experimentalism.

While “Pink Flag” presented punk at a distance, “Chairs Missing” moved even farther away.

Cover for “Chairs Missing” by Wire

The album’s tracks are deeply atmospheric and contemplative.

While traces of punk influence persist in the realms of distortion, vocal styles and lilt, there’s a noticable presence of synths throughout.

When I hear the words “art punk,” the sounds of this album come to mind.

Recommended Tracks: “Another the Letter,” “Marooned,” “Sand in My Joints”

“154”

Wire’s third album, released 1979, was another step in the band’s progression of style.

Building upon the atmosphere of “Chairs Missing,” “154” demonstrates a slower, more exacting musical process.

The album’s opening track, “I Should Have Known Better,” is almost unrecognizable as Wire.

Cover for “154” by Wire

With cold, clean vocals buffered by a smooth guitar-synth combo, the track has an almost gothic slant.

This effect continues throughout the album, with use of electronic beats coloring a pneumatic atmosphere.

“154” represents Wire’s penchant for transformation — or rather, metamorphosis — as the deconstruction witnessed in “Pink Flag” culminates in the birth of a distinct genre.

Recommended Tracks: “I Should Have Known Better,” “Single K.O.,” “Once is Enough”

Final Thoughts

Wire’s experimentation with music didn’t end with “154.”

In 2020, the band released “10:20,” their 18th studio album.

Though Wire never reached the mainstream acclaim of other groups, their influence is uncontested.

Many groups that proved more commercially successful than Wire, such as Sonic Youth, Minutemen, My Bloody Valentine and Big Black, cite Wire’s influence in their own work.

As frontman Colin Newman said in a Rolling Stones interview, Wire is “… the most famous band you’ve never heard of.”

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Band/Artist Profile

Artist Spotlight: Rezurex

Photo by Sam Moghadam Khamseh on Unsplash

Rezurex is one of the most influential psychobilly bands to rise out of Los Angeles, with their 2005 debut landing them a partnership with the “Home of Horrorpunk.”

Formed in Southern California in 2001, Rezurex describes themselves as “…equal parts ’50s rockabilly, punk rock and Catholic mysticism.”

Today, Rezurex works hard to keep psychobilly alive, producing new music, participating in live performances and collaborating with other bands within the scene.

Discography

Rezurex self-released their first EP, “Beyond the Grave“, in 2005.

The following year, they re-released “Beyond the Grave” as an LP under the FiendForce Records label.

FiendForce Records, the self-proclaimed “Home of Horrorpunk,” worked with numerous bands within the genre, such as The Crimson Ghosts, Bloodsucking Zombies From Outer Space and Stellar Corpses.

Photo by Thiago Barletta

Moving forward with FiendForce, Rezurex released their 2008 album “Psycho Radio.”

The album, remastered in 2013 with Live Dead Records, produced some of the band’s most popular songs, such as “Walk On the Edge” and “Dead World.”

Following the band’s 2008 release, they released the mini-album “Fiesta De Los Diablos” under Eastern Storm in collaboration with the band Hi-Hopes.

Rezurex continued to release music, with their most recent album, “Skeletons,” coming out in 2020 with Cleopatra Records.

The band’s most recent release, “Yakety Yak,” came out in March of 2023. The single is a vibrant collaboration between Rezurex, The Brains and The Coasters.

Bat Music for Bat People

A compelling aspect of the psychobilly community is its strong culture of collaboration.

Bat! is a “masked supergroup” featuring members from Rezurex, Nekromantix, The Brains and Stellar Corpses.

Photo by Denny Müller on Unsplash

Formed in 2019, Bat! is, at its core, a group of passionate musicians making music and having a good time.

With campy noir aesthetics and dramatic lyricism, the group’s debut album, “Bat Music for Bat People,” translates into a type of musical theatre.

Final Thoughts

I found Rezurex while putting together a psychobilly set for my radio show, and I can definitely say that they’re a band I will continue listening to.

Perusing their discography illustrates a progression of style, with their newest tracks demonstrating a distinct sound that blends classic rockabilly, romantic rock and Latin American rhythms.

For individuals interested in psychobilly and looking for a band that marches ahead with energy reminiscent of The Cramps frontman Lux Interior, Rezurex is an excellent listening candidate.

Recommendations

  • “Dia De Los Muertos”
  • “Mi Calavera de Amor”
  • “Sacred Heart”
  • “Psycho Radio”
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Band/Artist Profile

Itchy Kitty: Cats in Spotlight

Itchy Kitty's album cover of "Mr. Universe"
Itchy Kitty's album cover of "Mr. Universe"

So, Itchy Kitty, a wonderfully perverse band name, clawed its way into my ears through chance a few years ago when I watched Built to Spill’s performance at Cat’s Cradle way, way back in 2022. I wrote a little about their performance and who some of the members were in this article, but I haven’t stopped listening to their music. 

Their harsh sounds and self described “bubblegum p***” genre labels got me addicted to their music and kept me returning for more and more of their sounds (quote from The Spokesman-Review). Itchy Kitty has four releases within their seven-ish year existence as a band and focuses their sound within the punk genre by using shrill, explosive vocals, cranked-up guitar and heart-thumpin’ drum beats. 

Who’s this Band?

The members of Itchy Kitty are made up of Ami Elston (guitar, bass, vocals), Naomi Eisenbrey (bass, vocals), Michael (Sug) Tschirgi (drums, percussion), and their guitarist known as Catman. They are currently signed with CORPORAT Records and they’re based out of Spokane, Washington.

Itchy Kitty, as previously mentioned, has four releases out-n’-about, three of which are found on Spotify and all can be found on their Bandcamp. Their releases (in order of earliest to latest release) are “Careless Whisker” from 2016, “Mr. Universe” from 2018, “Under the Covers” from 2020, and “Feargasm” also from 2020.

Album and Sounds

“Feargasm” (EP)

A few the most memorable tracks from this EP are “Fish Money” and “Sexy Requiem” These two tracks differ almost violently, as one is a classic sounding punk track with a strange subject matter (fish money), and the other is an eight minute track with calm, wispy vocals and ethereal sounds. 

“Under the Covers” (EP)

This EP focuses on covers from four different bands. My two favorites are “Sonic Reducer” and the “Psycho Killer” cover. I was lucky enough to see the “Psycho Killer” cover live at the Built to Spill show I mentioned earlier, and Eisenberry’s method of signing this track led to her convulsing on the stage floor in a horrific manner. Itchy Kitty pulls new electric emotions from both these tracks, which I found added to my appreciation of the original sounds. 

“Mr. Universe” (LP)

In this LP I found “Size Queen”, “Bore” and “Walk Towards Work”  to be exhilarating additions to their discography and band’s sound. “Size Queen” focuses on a feminine perspective of body shaming particular parts of a male body with good humor and thrash-y sounds, while “Bore” opens up the album with scratchy vocals and throwing insults towards the boring folks that infest various parts of life. 

“Careless Whisker” (LP)

And in Itchy Kitty’s first LP (that’s available on streaming services), the top couple of tracks I’ve fallen in love with are “Tomcat Society”, “Year of the Slut” and “NoMe”. “Year of the Slut” stands out the most to me on this album. It feels like the backbone of what Itchy Kitty wants to sound like. The lyrics are comedic and crass, while the music exudes an air of wonderful ‘moshability’

Itchy Kitty’s main drawback for me is that they don’t have more content out yet. This band is quite young and I cannot wait to see what they continue to do. On their Instagram page they’ve been pretty active with tours and concerts, so hopefully once they settle down for a few months they’ll be back in the studio recording some new “bubblegum p***”.

Itchy Kitty is the “cat’s meow”,

Ben

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Band/Artist Profile New Album Review

Album Review: “Unreal Unearth” by Hozier

WKNC 88.1 blog
Album cover art for Hozier's album, "Unreal Unearth". Image is of Hozier's toothy smile, chewing on a daisy while the rest of the face is buried under dirt.

Andrew Hozier-Byrne, better known as Hozier, first captivated the world in 2013 with the international success of his debut track, “Take Me to Church” – a powerful, mid-tempo soul song that addresses difficult socio-political realities of the time.

Since then, the Irish native has achieved musical acclaim with a slew of inter-genre chart-topping hits in rock, blues, folk, pop and dance.

With the release of a third album, “Unreal Unearth”, Hozier caps a decade of stellar lyricism and expert musicianship with a deeply introspective love letter to the humanity of humanity where he seamlessly shape-shifts between familiar genres and dives into a distinctly new soundscape: soft and ethereal.

Continue reading “Album Review: “Unreal Unearth” by Hozier”
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Band/Artist Profile Classic Album Review

Artist Spotlight: Omerta

Photo by Evgeniy Smersh on Unsplash

I didn’t even know Omerta existed until December of last year when I and two other WKNC DJs took the drive to Greensboro to see Loathe at Hangar 1819.

Though they weren’t headliners, their captivating stage presence and savage energy riveted me. Following the show, I immediately went home and listened to their entire discography.

Five times over.

America’s Most-Hated Boy Band

Based in Houston, Texas, Omerta fuses 90s metalcore with vaporwave and cybergrind whatever those words mean to create a uniquely hardcore sound.

Photo by Sam Moghadam Khamseh on Unsplash

With a website still under construction and an enigmatic style reminiscent of 2010s tumblr-era “girlcore” aesthetic, Omerta is an up-and-coming brand bringing an air of innovation to the scene.

“Hyperviolence”

Released as the band’s debut album in 2020, Hyperviolence is vicious and vile in all of the best ways.

With a runtime of just under twenty minutes, the album passes by in a feverish haze.

The album’s multiplicity of styles serves as a testament to the band’s experimental nature. Each song has a distinct sound and draws from a combination of stylistic methods.

The album’s opening track, “Payback,” has a trap metal slant while the final track, “Hyperviolence,” leans towards a metalcore style.

“Garbage,” the 4th track on the album, has clear contemporary emo influences.

This blending of styles makes each track particularly engaging.

Every time I listen, I notice something new.

“Antiamorous”

Omerta’s most recent single, “Antiamorous,” is a testament to the band’s stylistic metamorphosis.

Featuring former Spider Gang member JOHNNASCUS, the song hints at an interesting new direction for the band’s discography.

Aptly described as genre-defying, the 3-minute song is almost epsodic in nature.

A mix of metalcore, trap metal, emo and other niche influences, “Antiamorous” literalizes the term “listening experience.”

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Band/Artist Profile Blog Music Education

Dead Kennedys and Archetypal Punk Ethos

Art for "Kill the Poor" by Dead Kennedys

It was sometime in the winter when I heard Dead Kennedys for the first time. I was living in the passionless coastal town I’ve mentioned in posts before, friendless and freshly eighteen and so bored it hurt.

I was sitting on the floor of my bedroom with the screen door open, letting the cold winter air spill in.

My phone lay on the floor beside me, playing music from some strange YouTube ripoff app, the kind that you can’t find for free anymore after YouTube started its own subscription service.

I hadn’t yet surrendered myself to the trendy green music subscription that all the other cool teens had, so this was my only option. The app operated similarly to the company it was spoofing, only on a smaller scale that allowed for simultaneous watching and browsing.

I can’t remember what exactly I was doing at the time, only that I was letting the app cycle through random songs, not really listening, until a certain turn of phrase caught my attention:

We’re sorry, we hate to interrupt
But it’s against the law to jump off this bridge
You’ll just have to k– yourself somewhere else
A tourist might see you and we wouldn’t want that

Dead Kennedys, “Soup is Good Food”

Maybe it was the irreverence of the statement, but something about it struck me particularly hard. I immediately paused the song and restarted it, this time listening intently.

Up until that point, I didn’t know music could be that way: unabashed, unapologetic and unrestrained.

You Made a Good Meal

“Soup is Good Food” was not the first Dead Kennedys song I heard, but it was the first I really paid attention to.

“Jello Biafra – Dead Kennedys” uploaded by catharine_anderson to Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC-BY-SA 2.0

Released as part of the band’s 1985 album “Frankenchrist,” the song describes (quite blatantly) the plight of the working man in a post-industrial society.

Not only is the working man disposable, but society punishes him for resenting his condition, all the while remaining cheerily apathetic to his misery.

Depression, exhaustion and poor working conditions are socially acceptable in this dystopian society. In fact, this corrupt “system” is fueled by other disenfranchised and disposable workers.

We know how much you’d like to die
We joke about it on our coffee breaks
But we’re paid to force you to have a nice day
In the wonderful world we made just for you

Dead Kennedys, “Soup is Good Food”

This situation isn’t foreign to us. It’s a reality, perhaps even made worse by the innovations of the internet and artificial intelligence.

Killing the Industry

In my opinion, Dead Kennedys is one of the most archetypally punk bands to exist.

Formed in 1978 in San Francisco, Dead Kennedys debuted with their first recorded single, “California Über Alles,” the following year.

The song, a sardonic attack on California Gov. Jerry Brown, was succeeded by the release of “We’ve Got A Bigger Problem Now” about President Ronald Reagan.

Both songs likened the two politicans — one a liberal, the other a staunch conservative — to fascist dictators, highlighting the invariable corruption of power when married to a politican’s ideals.

Cover for “Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death” by Dead Kennedys

While Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra eventually conceded that he was “off-base” with Gov. Brown, he levied criticisms regarding Brown’s apparent hesitance to “stand up to the rich people and the land owners who don’t think they should have to pay taxes for the public good.”

Biafra’s readiness to disparage any politican or public figure he felt deserved it, regardless of their political affiliation, colored the work of Dead Kennedys for the remainder of his career.

With the influence of Biafra, Dead Kennedys became a vital cultural force against the social and political climate of the 70s and 80s.

The band was also brazen in its condemnation of the music industry, illustrated with their track “MTV – Get Off the Air” in 1985.

How far will you go, how low will you stoop
To tranquilize our minds with your sugar-coated swill
You’ve turned rock and roll rebellion into Pat Boone sedation
Making sure nothing’s left to the imagination

Dead Kennedys, “MTV – Get Off the Air”

Biafra took great issue with MTV and other similar companies, which he saw as merely the extra limbs of a larger, hegemonic entity.

For Biafra, music was a tool of insurrection. Fame and wealth were unimportant; what Biafra really wanted was to rile the masses, radicalize the youth and make the people in power uncomfortable.

“Riling the masses” is not a new concept for punk, but Dead Kennedys did it arguably better than many others.

*cough cough* Sex Pistols *cough cough*

Final Thoughts

Listening to Dead Kennedys and reading transcripts of Jello Biafra’s spoken word poetry leads me to beg a very age-old question:

Is punk dead?

Counterculture eventually manifests its own type of conformity and stricture. Fashion becomes a uniform and community becomes exclusivity.

Looking at how self-proclaimed “punks” navigate online spaces (Machine Gun Kelly), it can be fairly easy to lose faith in the grassroots core of “punk.”

Photo by Evgeniy Smersh on Unsplash

But when I go to a punk show, I feel a lot different. There’s energy there, barely-restrained fervor that gives way to complete abandon as soon as the music starts.

There are people in studded battle jackets and crust pants, sure, but there are also kids in graphic tees and girls in dresses and fishnets. There are people standing at the edge of the pit and waving lost hats, glasses and wallets.

That’s what punk is to me: people who love wild music and hate the government crashing into each other in a whirlwind of cathartic kinesis.

So, punk isn’t dead. Not really. It just isn’t living on Instagram or Tiktok.