Post-hardcore suffered an incredible loss with the passing of Pitchfork/Drive Like Jehu/Hot Snakes shaman Rick Froberg, but the scene is arguably stronger than ever.
Exhibit A is Strangelight. The Bay Area quartet, featuring members of Kowloon Walled City and Transistor Transistor, only need two minutes to flex their angular, brash, feverish skronk with “Power, Rent, Control,” one of two tracks that Rome-plow right over you on the upcoming 7-inch Power, Rent, Control b/w A Three Day Weekend.
Here is guitarist/vocalist Nat Coghlin laying out the details:
Our original plan was to record these two songs when we head into the studio later this year to record our next LP, but we’re impatient and the world could end before that happens. So, we found a Monday afternoon when we could crank these two rippers out. We recorded live, no room for fixing mistakes, so we left them all in.
“Power, Rent, Control” is from a batch of four songs Julia [Lancer, drums] and I wrote years ago. Two of them made it on the Adult Themes LP and there’s a fourth that neither of us can remember how to play, and we’re done living in the past anyway. As per usual Ian [Miller, bass] and Tony [Teixeira, guitar] made the song 100 times better, and considering that it was already a 100% good song, it now rips 10,000%.
Because we couldn’t have two out of two songs be about housing costs, “A Three Day Weekend” is about, well, wanting a three day weekend. Strangelight doesn’t use metaphors, we aren’t cowards. It’s also about hating smart appliances. If it’s not the most relatable song of 2023, I’ll eat my hat. Fortunately, I wear a small edible hat, so I’m not worried either way.
One thing Coghlin didn’t mention is that the record has one of those big fucking spindle holes so hope there’s room in your local diner’s jukebox.
The 7″ drops on September 21 and you can preorder it here. Listen to “Power, Rent, Control” below:
