LISTEN: Palberta – ‘Before I Got Here’

An energetic, totally infectious slice of guitar pop, New York trio Palberta have shared their latest single ‘Before I Got Here’. Taken from their fifth album Palberta5000, which is set for release via Wharf Cat on 22nd January 2021, the track explores the juxtaposition of emotions that come with letting someone new into your life.

“While punk music was our first love, pop music has become our fixation,” Palberta explain. “Throughout the making of Palberta5000, we were focused on making music that people could not only sing along to, but get stuck in their heads. That, and attempting to make songs longer than 50 seconds.” This evolution towards the softer side of things is epitomised on ‘Before I Got Here’. Full of buoyant guitar riffs and lush vocal harmonies, the song showcases the band’s playful poppy outlook, while still delivering a much needed cacophony of noise via the krout-surf style outro.

Palberta opened for Bikini Kill on a handful of the band’s US tour dates in 2019, and were supposed to tour the UK and Europe for the first time this year before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. There’s still much uncertainty around when the return of live music will happen, but Palberta’s new single should keep your heads bopping until then.

Listen to ‘Before I Got Here’ below.

Follow Palberta on bandcamp, Instagram, Spotify & Facebook for more updates.

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

Kate CrudgingtonLeave a comment

Track Of The Day: Divide & Dissolve – ‘We Are Really Worried About You’

An eerie, thunderous instrumental that rouses listener’s state of awareness and questions what it means to be free, Divide and Dissolve have shared their latest single ‘We Are Really Worried About You’. The track is lifted from their upcoming album Gas Lit, produced by Ruban Neilson (Unknown Mortal Orchestra), and set for release in January 2021 via Invada Records who the band have recently signed to.

“[The single] is a call to transformation and freedom,” the duo explain. “This song and video seek to undermine and destroy the white supremacist colonial framework. We are weaving together our fight for Indigenous Sovereignty, Black and Indigenous Liberation, Water, Earth, and Indigenous land given back. Decolonise now.” Together, Takiaya Reed (saxophone, guitar, live effects) and Sylvie Nehill (drums, live effects) seek to undermine these forces through their doom infused, powerful soundscapes.

Crashing cymbals, distorted bass lines and striking saxophone sounds form a swirling vortex of cathartic dissonance on ‘We Are Really Worried About You’. The track is accompanied by a captivating music video, directed by Sepand Mashiahof. “The world is structured to mould us down into stunted vessels that have to gaslight ourselves of our own truths/experiences just to survive. This video felt like an expression of that process,” explains Mashiahof. “The desperation to be heard and the stonewall silence that pushes you into the void of perpetual self-doubt and self-sabotage. The concept and the collaboration aspects seemed to also mirror what it takes to move through this grief, that you need friends and community to be able to address these things together and help each other heal through it.”

With their dense and intriguing sounds, Divide and Dissolve are instrumental activists who seek to disrupt toxic white supremacy, and encourage others to do the same. Watch the video for ‘We Are Really Worried About You’ below and follow the band on bandcamp, Instagram, Spotify and Facebook for more updates.

Photo credit: Billy Eyers

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

Kate CrudgingtonLeave a comment

LISTEN: Anna B Savage – ‘A Common Tern’

A smouldering rumination on escaping an unhealthy relationship, London-based songwriter Anna B Savage has shared her latest single, ‘A Common Tern’. Lifted from her debut album titled A Common Turn, which is set for release on 29th January 2021 via City Slang, the track is a brooding exploration of Savage’s need to free herself from the shackles of a pernicious relationship with a former partner, and with herself.

The single shares its name with a seabird, the sight of which prompted Savage to re-think her relationship while on a fishing trip with her ex. She explains this further: “When I saw the terns, I was pretty amazed: they really did seem like they were just suspended, dangling on the bottom of a thread. Something about that seeming captivity, being on the end of an invisible line, then breaking free. They were at once familiar and yet so strange and weird. I don’t think I entirely grasped the relevance while I was writing it, but now it seems very, very frickin’ obvious.”

“I spent a year and a half after the tern incident trying to extricate myself from the relationship, bit by bit, section by section. It was fucking hard work, and I did do a lot of apologising. For me, a common turn means the common moment where you decide you just don’t/can’t love someone any more, and there’s nothing any of you can do about it.”

Savage’s ability to carve beguiling soundscapes from her intensely personal, often painful experiences is what makes her music so compelling. Watch the video for ‘A Common Tern’ below and follow Anna B Savage on bandcamp, Instagram, Facebook & Spotify for more updates.

Photo credit: Ebru Yildiz

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

Kate CrudgingtonLeave a comment

WATCH: ZAND – ‘Slut Money’

A savage pop tune that celebrates self-autonomy and body positivity, ZAND has shared a new video for their latest single ‘Slut Money’. The self-described “ugly pop” star is taking aim at slut shamers on their new track, knocking down the haters with their gritty beats, sweet vocals and candid rap verses.

“While it’s a tongue-in-cheek bop, I wrote it as a liberating bite back at whorephobes,” ZAND explains about the new single. “[It’s] an ode to the community, as well as it being empowering for anyone who’s been judged for demonstrating their right to bodily autonomy and sexual liberation.” The Blackpool-born producer delivers these thoughts via unapologetic lyrics and dense beats on ‘Slut Money’.

“Why you complaining when it’s not your body?” ZAND repeatedly asks, reiterating the problem that patriarchal society has with judging the bodies of women and non-binary people. ZAND rightfully celebrates using your body in whatever way you want to, and unapologetically tells those who find it offensive exactly where to go. Watch the video for ‘Slut Money’ below and follow ZAND on Instagram and Spotify for more updates.

Photo Credit: Sara Irvine

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

Kate CrudgingtonLeave a comment