
Our Escape – Thoughts and Prey
War is the most abhorrent thing that humans have ever invented. And, boy, didn’t we work hard to perfect our atrocities? We’re so used to it that you’ll find people saying that it’s inevitable. And, once every few years, you’ll get so-called leaders cursing out all those yellow-bellied bastards who would oppose it. Think of them as demented creatures, senile animals who can’t be trusted to make decisions on our behalf.
But what’s the counter-message to stop wars? When the “War to End All Wars” was kaputt, writers wrote poems that we still study in school. Didn’t stop it. During the 1960s, folk singers wrote beautiful, clever songs about the war machine. That didn’t stop it, and, in fact, some of the people supporting the singers got killed themselves. What sound will stop it?
The sound of Our Escapes’s “Thoughts and Prey” are the closest thing to an appropriate protest song response when facing the war industry. There’s a giant military-industrial complex huffing and puffing. Our Escape want to shut it up, or, at least, overpower it. The hardcore punk groove and aggression of the song perfectly captures the disappointment and disgust of those who’ve seen all these little war games play out before. This is the one thing that should really make you angry! Hopefully, this song will help get you there.
Múnro – Aldous: La Grandeza de la Identidad
The great rock n’ roll biographies are really about the artists finally getting the hits that they wanted and what that did to them. Really, they’re descriptions of psychology experiments carried out on unsuspecting, naive guitar players and singers.
For the most part, there were two types of reactions. The ones who were in it for the money rejoiced briefly hired an army of lawyers and set to work on doing more songs just like the ones that had been successful. Happy life!
But the ones who really wanted to create something artistically meaningful took it hard. They know had to write the same kinds of songs forever? People would assume that they knew what they represented? Being famous was gilded cage.
Múnro’s is beyond a mere two-word classification. It is wildly experimental and ambitious but nearly always pleasing to the ears. “Aldous: La Grandeza de la Identidad” is, technically, a loud, angry punk-rock song. But there are plenty of ideas to keep you interested. This is a song inspired by “Brave New World.” And, the tune’s orchestration is great. Finally, the song is about the public being desperate to put others, artists especially, in a neat box. It’s something that Múnro does not deserve. Repeat listens, however, are encouraged!