The SchytëHawkës – Cover up the Hole (It seeps through)
Genre: Punk, Thrash Metal, Hard Rock
Similar artists: Stray From the Path; Comeback Kid; Havok; RATM; Skindred; Madball; Anthrax; Pantera; Metallica
If you enter a modern art exhibit and you are not horrified or sick to your stomach by something that you see within the first few minutes of stepping in, you either are in the right place, or this is not your first rodeo. Modern art, for the most part, whether it deals with images or sounds, has the purpose of shocking and bewildering.
A lot of times, there is a good reason behind this besides making the audience members sick to their stomachs. We are, as sympathizers of Guy Debord will tell you, living in an era where we consume information as mere spectators. It is assumed that we will not question what we are shown. And, of course, pop art is meant to be consumed. You’re not supposed to decide whether you hate it or love it.
That’s the purpose of gruesome thrash metal. And although The SchytëHawkës’ return with Cover up the Hole (It seeps through) is a sonic and visual torture fantasy, it is also geeky and well-intended. This is not dissimilar from the original thrash and grindcore groups. One has to assume that these are not the sounds and images that make up these people’s imaginations all of the time. It is just an attempt to shake people out of their slumber. And, likely, it’s also a way to shock their parents.
Beau Burnette – Lean In
Similar artists: The Avalanches
The internet has become the only place where one can experience music for the first time that can make a reasonable listener exclaim, “What the hell is that?” You can’t depend on record labels to help you in this regard. After all, the vast majority of them are interested in selling the kinds of groups that fit snugly within a niche. It would only make sense.
And, if you think that by checking out festivals, you are to experience a modern-day Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band, think again. The important live events function by a similar logic and might throw in some payola in their algorithm for good measure. In a music world that has all become a bit samey, the internet is, by and large, the only space for true music weirdos.
Beau Burnette’s Lean In possesses the kind of meme-affected humor and interest in bedroom electronica that will make regular internet users feel convinced that he’s speaking their language. If this isn’t apparent from the clever music video, one should only look at the influences that Burnette quotes. The song, the artist says, was inspired by Snoop Dogg, Lil’ Yachty, and by Brin Ano. Record labels might still be on the lookout for the next Crosby, Stills & Nash, but the internet should be ready to accept Beau Burnette as the Neil Young of the meme-era.
