Shanf – Swing Monroe
Similar artists: Palm, Pile, Mamalarky, Deerhoof
Genre: Indie Rock
Shanf explores indie-pop hypnotizing potential on the latest single, a track that could only have been made in the present time.
Conspiracy theorists enjoy reminding the rest of us of our lack of power in resisting the information fed to us by our masters, the elites, and the people in charge. Pop music leads the charge on our brittle minds, canceling our ability to think for ourselves.
And they might not be entirely wrong. Music has always been used as a tool to persuade. Most people who attend a club find themselves wanting to dance. Most people who attend a football game find themselves wanting to chant along with the other supporters. And most people who watch advertising find themselves wanting to buy the product they’ve been told about.
Shanf’s “Swing Monroe” aims to be a hypnotizing pop song that reveals all of the tricks used in producing this brand of modern music. It does this by adding as many effects as the track will accept before it risks becoming an incomprehensible mess. But by doing this, it achieves an otherworldly effect, music that forces listeners into a dive pool of their own imagination.
Bravo Papa – Bulletproof
Genre: Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
Norwegian indie-rockers Bravo Papa sound like they’re carrying the weight of the whole world on their shoulders, and they wouldn’t have it any other way.
A band’s first argument is about what they’re going to be called. The second, and much more important argument is almost always centered around who will take up the unenviable task of writing songs for the newly-christened band. It doesn’t much matter who answers “yes.” Most early songs will be about beer, girls, and hating one’s parents.
The truth is that people who end up in bands don’t have much to say initially. Of course, life has a funny way of forcing them to earn experiences. Cramped inside a moving van with just enough money to afford gas-station hot dogs, inspiration eventually comes flooding in.
Comfort is the ruin of a great songwriter. Bravo Papa’s “Bulletproof” sounds as tense as spending a weekend on a park bench. They don’t have many homeless people in Oslo, the city from which Bravo Papa originated. This all means that their indie-rock/post-punk compositions are either the work of method acting or an incredibly active imagination. Either way, it’s a well-worn song.
