Anthony Graziano – Gen Hex
“It’s like we’re stuck in another great depression/And, they can take what they want ’cause I’m used to nothing,” Anthony Graziano sings with so much loathing and detachment that it’s hard not to believe him. It’s the clever, cynical comment of a man who has had it with the simple yet unending pressures of modern living.
In many ways, we did it to ourselves. I reckon that at no time in human history have there been so many conspiracy theories flying about and so many people ready to make them their lives’ goal. At no point has there been so much information about various religions and beliefs, yet we live in such a secular age.
The grunge icons were right to be apathetic, but they started a few decades too early. On Gen Hex, Graziano presents himself as a possible heir to the slacker-prince crown. It’s the kind of song that John Lennon maybe would have written after getting board of Eastern philosophy, therapy, experimental art, and, well, anything else.
Catch Prichard – Woman
Americana is the goth-rock of the 21st Century, and I have my theories as to why that is. While for decades on end the bands and artists designed to scare you silly were uniforms you could understand (makeup, leather jackets, dark shades), the new breed of melodic terrorists come wielding an acoustic guitar.
Perhaps, this is a regular consequence of two unavoidable truths. The first one is that American culture, music especially, continues to have an immense pull in most parts of the world. The second is that Americana and Country & Western songs have tended to lean on the lighter of the emotional spectrum. And, while the U.S.A. is one of the greatest places in the world, its history of violence cannot be ignored.
Catch Prichard are among the artists that has been focused on helping bring the great Southern Gothic folk to the mainstream. The artists have been listening, clearly, to a lot of Leonard Cohen, a mark of fine taste. Woman is imbued with the singer’s memorable baritone vocals and with a sense of longing and melodrama. Goth comes in many forms these days.
