Bunko – Angertainment
Everybody’s angry nowadays and interested in politics as if it was their own next of kin running for office. Never has the world been more divided. However, at the same time, never, or at least not in recent memory, has the world collectively opted to pay this much attention to politicians, these spoiled millionaires intent on accruing more wealth and power.
Bunko, much like myself, is fed up with the hours of endless stress provided by those tasked with bringing us the news. To the artist, the news bulletins are merely the entertainment of anger and dissatisfaction. His single Angertainment is not a partisan attempt at telling right from wrong, but rather the musician’s protest song against the never-ending cycle of violent news entertainment.
The video for the tune is a Who’s Who of deepfakes that is bound to keep viewers excited, while the music is purposely strange and atonal, like Faith No More playing the rhumba to a bunch of unsuspecting metalheads attending a festival.
Most of the time, the best political statement that rock music can make is to mock the establishment. This is what Bunko does excellently here.
Crooked Spires – Can’t Stand It
It’s easiest to judge bands based on their most famous songs. This helps put them into a specific category that their fans will, for the most part, never want to see them leave. However, let us not forget that Black Sabbath looked pretty intent on playing folk and blues before being taken over by visions of perpetual darkness. Or, Soundgarden were not the road-rage devils that they later became on their early records, but rather a group interested in shapeless psychedelic-rock.
Now, I mention those groups because Crooked Spires, in the vocal department especially, resembles those bands. For the time being though, while they are showing an interest in garage and alternative, the group is keeping their toes firmly dipped into the waters of soulful blues-rock.
The result is certainly not bad. Can’t Stand It certainly shows a group that have mastered their instruments. The interplay between the fuzzy guitar, the vocals and the sound rhythm section is certainly well worth a listen. However, one can’t help but wonder what lurks underneath those blues stylings once the group decides to tear things down. We can only hope to see the result soon.