
no kids pets ok – WHEN THE STORY COMES TO AN END
Similar artists: Molchat Doma, PERMSKY KRAY, Closed Tear, French Police, Cathedral Bells
Genre: Post-Punk, Gothic, Dark Wave
no kids pets ok are admirers of the kind of doomy post-punk that seems to suggest we will all onr day be living inside a North Korean prison camp.
There’s a certain romance about tragedy, but not as long as it’s happening to you. It’s a lot like watching a movie about lovers who end up drowning themselves. Sadness, in its purest form, seems to confirm what we want to believe most about life.
Naturally, this is something that can be well exploited by popular music. The esthetic of an oppressive government’s propaganda can be turned into a look. The sound of factory machines can be turned into a beat. And a grey, hopeless world can become the backdrop for a music video. Somehow, when put together in a creative way, these things become less threatening.
no kids pets ok’s “WHEN THE STORY COMES TO AN END” is beautifully defeatist, depressing post-punk. It sounds as if the instrumental was downloaded from the reels of the music they played over the credits of the news in a country in the Soviet block. But because this is purposely tuned to these frequencies, it’s also an intriguing peek into a nightmarish vision.
Motorsports – Drunk TV
Similar artists: Ought, Iceage, Parquet Courts, Truth Club
Genre: Post-Punk, Garage Rock
Motorsports are a post-punk band that mixes palatable melodies with Friday-night anger and hopelessness, a mighty reliable formula.
There are a lot of bands that want to be angry. And there’s a whole market for angry bands. Most of these musicians will soon find out that they had little to be angry about in objective terms. Think of the Bergen crowd that created black metal and burned down churches. Those kids lived in one of the richest cities on Earth, had money for musical equipment and rebelled against a Christian faith that isn’t even relevant in their home country.
Still, anger can pay off as long as nobody bothers to call you out on your beliefs. For example, a punk group always barking about leftist ideals might get questioned when it is revealed that they are living the capitalist dream.
It’s best then to get angry about things that everyone can agree are, at the very least, annoying. Motorsports, on their single “Drunk TV,” are upset with the bland, uninspiring world around them, and there are few who’d dare claim they were wrong. The band’s sound entertains the idea of allowing large, ever-ascending guitar lines a la Johnny Marr to battle it out with the bitter vocals for space. The combo works well and balances the bitter with the sweet.