New Orleans’ Special Interest is a band of succinct sonic ferocity. On their latest LP they are a close to perfect representation of a sound that confronts witnesses in the present moment with the ills and issues of continual systemic oppression. With a localised focus, they don’t pretend to have all the answers to the world’s problems either.
While still retaining the dynamics of dissonant, angular guitars, “harsh” vocals and driving bass sounds of their previous releases, they have expanded their sound with more sample-driven pulses and ambient sections from electronic music. Usually this can go one way or the other with bands, but they achieve this combination extremely effectively.
As apocalyptic as the times may seem, thematically Special Interest don’t resign to convenient cynicism or contrived nihilism that has often been in vogue among many noise makers and sonic terrorisers about. There is a great spectrum of emotions expressed and even a certain celebration of the survival and thriving of cultures subject to societal injustices.
Given that their namesake is homage to the cult VHS genre, their music videos on vimeo are well worth checking out and are visually stunning in all their decadent glamour. The element of “shock” in subversive genres such as punk, noise, rock n’ roll, no wave, blah blah blah today is redundant by comparison. This is urgent. – Toto