The Bandits – Stay Close
There are stories of rockstars of the past worrying that a rival might’ve put a curse on them, as David Bowie did when he first met Jimmy Page. There are also stories of rock stars believing that supernatural creatures were hiding behind the curtains and, in more extreme cases, some, like Dave Mustaine, even began feeling and seeing insects move underneath their skin.
Sure, those sit at the more extreme end of the paranoia spectrum. And, yes, these were likely influenced by these musicians’ off-stage activities, but they point to a pattern. A great number of artists have feared being watched by the government. And a good number of them, especially those living in oppressive societies, were right.
That’s why The Bandits’ “Stay Close” doesn’t sound like a paranoid work of fiction anymore. It sounds like the last cry before the ink dries and everything becomes official. “Stay Close” is musically inspired in equal measure by the tension of post-punk, the bouncy grooves of pop-punk and modern pop melodies. It’s a good way to make people listen. What if they don’t? Hope you like videos of you eating your corn flakes while getting stuck on a hard drive somewhere.
Some Gifts – Consumer Confidence is Shaken
Certainly, those shows where rock stars used to take a camera crew around their homes and show them their gold-plated swimming pool, the bed held aloft by a magnetic force field, and the diamond-encrusted cross in the sex dungeon are all a matter of historical curiosity and nothing more. It’s not like the rock stars are more modest; they’re just skint.
What it did show you, however, is that musicians, even those tattooed from head to toe and anxious to write songs about burning the UN building down as an offering to The Devil, really liked expensive, shiny things. Who doesn’t like a bit of luxury? Who doesn’t want a bit of pampering? But, if you ask Some Gifts, this has little to do with punk-rock’s mission.
I’m not sure that punk-rock was ever about having little to your name and being proud of it. In fact, I agree with Some Gifts and their strong, new single “Consumer Confidence is Shaken” that the genre’s mission may have always been to question how excessive wealth is gained and what it does to the people who don’t have it. Luckily, there’s more to the song than just a strong idea, as Some Gifts manages to create an easy-on-the-ears aggressive punk sound that might make you question the ways of the world once more.
