Chosen by Monk
These Dutch punks ooze spit-inflected defiance as they announce the release of their self-titled debut album at the end of October with this third taster of what is to come our way:
Speaking about the song, the title of which translates as ‘White Smoke’, the Ghent quartet describe it as representing a victory for losers, an attempt at forgiveness, swallowing, biting in your own lip and saliva that tastes like iron.
The album ‘Wereldwaan’ (or ‘World Delusion’), expands on the themes of last year’s debut EP ‘EN/EN’, which explored identity, moral ambiguity, and a longing for something different in a world that doesn’t reward doubt. On the album, the band sharpen their tools and open up their vision – tackling everything from social despair to interpersonal grief to the absurdity of performance itself. But it’s never didactic. Instead, they offer a kind of solidarity through shared confusion, as front-woman Helena Cazaerck puts it:
We are four people that have found each other. Being a gang, having fun and creating something meaningful together, is our way of coping with the madness attacking us from inside and out. We try to make something beautiful out of frustration, unwanted complicity, greed, fingerpointing, ugliness. We choose life.
We choose not falling for the temptation of depression or aggression. We choose to be friends, not colleagues, we choose to be adventurers not competitors. We choose togetherness not efficiency. We choose expression not the measure stick.
We speak to you, our friends from different languages, in a way that is not about understanding.
We don’t have solutions for the problems that surround us. We don’t claim to know the answer. We only show the alternative.