Grave Return – TV Prophets (Live)
Genre: Skate Punk, Punk, Hardcore Punk
Similar artists: Agent Orange, The Damned, The Adolescents, Naked Raygun, The Descendents, Black Flag
It’s hard to trust pop stars who try too much to make you like them. The majority of pop stars are like that. And, in the entertainment field, much like in any other profession, the folks that do the most smiling and handshaking are either deceitful or simply don’t have the confidence to show you what they’re really like.
With so much information made to make you like what it’s selling, it’s difficult not to occasionally desire something that demands little of you. Where are the artists that are hard to love, that make you feel conflicted, that you wouldn’t be able to play at a fancy dinner?
Grave Return’s TV Prophets digs into the dirtiest lo-fi rage of hardcore punk. This is music made to inspire you through its passion and, likely, not its sound. But it’s welcoming, and it’s not trying to get you to sign on any dotted line. Call it a friend. It’s hard not to side with people like this.
Kill Symbols – Ashes
Genre: New wave, Indie Rock, Indie Pop
Rock n’ roll music and organized religion have more things in common than have to set them apart. Nobody is particularly pleased with this arrangement, of course. That is why representatives of each party do their utter best to publicly denounce the activity of the other.
The fact is that both demand ceremonies. Both require devotion from their loyal subjects. And, neither could exist in their current form without spreading a bit of fear into the soul of the people who dare give their loyalty. Worst of all, perhaps, neither of them wishes to acknowledge how little of their former power they have remaining.
Kill Symbols’ Ashes is a synth-pop walkthrough of the fascination of spiritual-minded people with destruction and redemption. The gentle, well-measured vocals contrast with a video that emphasizes the fanatical nature of organized religion. But, once the dust settles, it’s hard not to see that both the priests and the rock stars generally serve the same master, themselves.
