Frankie and the Witch Fingers – Economy
Ah, but, there’s an art in getting nowadays without having to get the police involved! Sure, everybody’s got something to sell. Most of the time the product and the person doing the selling are the same. But there’s a new problem.
Our brains have trained themselves to shut off whenever someone asks you to open up your wallet. It’s a defence mechanism, sure. But it’s one that keeps people relatively sane, semi-functional, chugging along.
Those who have mastered selling in these conditions have managed to find the right balance between annoyance and suggestion. You have to stop people for long enough to listen, but you can’t exactly put a gun to their head.
Frankie and the Witch Fingers recalls a future predicted by bands like Devo. The cleverly put together and slightly dissonant sounds of “Economy” are meant to challenge your attention span, which’s already been given a workout by all the ads, commercials, and desperate pleas for you to buy something. Has it worked? Is your mind at ease now? Like Frankie and the Witch Fingers, there’s little to suggest this will all end anytime soon.
PHWOAR – Surge
“This pie is getting sliced ever thinner,” is what UK’s PHWOAR sings on “Surge,” and, for once, there’s no reason to wonder too deeply what this rock is moaning about. You can hear a buzz in the air. It’s weighing on your chest every time you go to take a rest. People talk about it in hushed tones on the streets, and various political stooges are screaming it from the television screens.
It’s a mess so deep that we don’t know how to get out of it. Hell, we can’t even define what it is that we’re up against anymore. The one thing that all those voices, including those of the angry rock bands, can agree on is that it’s about freedom. Those unfortunate to have never had it might have to wait another few centuries. Those who had it and took it for granted might just lose it any day now.
It’s a time of great conspiracies. The history books, if there are any left, will write about them. It’s hard not to see enemies behind every corner. In that atmosphere and because of it PHWOAR delivers “Surge,” a song about the people being left behind for various interests. PHWOAR soundtracks a dark party, indeed. But the music still needs a danceable groove, a post-punk guitar roar and acerbic vocals inspired by this incredible decline that’s predicted to come soon. You might not have any other option but to dance the dark way. “Surge” might help.
