William Bleak – Skin on Skin
Similar artists: Rendez Vous, Soft Kill, The Cure
Genre: Post-Punk, Gothic / Dark Wave
There’s a lot of sympathy for The Devil recently. And it’s hard to blame the people who feel this way. After all, there’s a general feeling floating in the air that not even The Devil would be able to think of some of the things that we come up with. And if they did, it’d be kind of classes, a little too ridiculous, and wouldn’t even achieve much.
If The Devil were simply an employee tied to a desk job, they’d find it just as hard to cope with the world in which they’ve been sent to work as the rest of us. You’d imagine that even The Dark Lord would require a beer and a bit of chat from time to time. And while the world is filled with terrible, gruesome creatures, their popularity with the electorate doesn’t match their intellect. The Devil would be bored.
William Bleak’s goth-rock-inspired “Skin on Skin” is a song that The Devil might consider swaying to sadly on a lonely Saturday evening. It’s a song about the distance between all of us, a distance that’s only been made larger by our obsession with overpowering gadgets. It’s cut us from ourselves. There are few communities out there, nothing like the goth-rocker tribes that used to meet in dungeon-like clubs, and no real villains either. The Devil would be bored and file for resignation. As for the end of times and all, surely we’ll find a way on our own.
Duel Ferns – Softer Silence
Similar artists: Sonic Youth, Kim Gordon, my bloody valentine, Goat, Joy Division
Genre: Post-Punk, Stoner Rock, Psychedelic Rock
Regardless of where you stand on the social ladder, you won’t be afforded too many opportunities to scream in strangers’ faces. Sure, you could try doing that right now, but you’ll see that gets you evicted, thrown in jail, or labeled a madman. Considering just how difficult pulling off such an action is, if a job existed where this was not only allowed but encouraged, wouldn’t you consider taking it?
That’s a good enough reason for many young artists to take up rock music. Other than making horror movies and charging tickets at the gate for people interested in them, this is the only creative profession where a level of competitiveness is welcome. And, when that aggressiveness is wrapped up in layers of experimental art esoterism, who knows where the borders are?
Duel Ferns are a new art-indie band, and they’re interested in finding out just where the borders are with their single “Softer Silence.” It’s best to learn these things quickly and abuse those limitations for the rest of your career. This is something that Duel Ferns’ influences, along with bands that were also interested in dissonance and unusual presentation, did. Duel Ferns have set on the right trail by the likes of it.
