“I just think we’re in an ultimate fight right now”
Crazy Eight by NYC based Imaginary People has a crazy tone filled with wide eyed angst. It might be the fervent mantric synth line or the fact that the beat feels like a hyper dog chasing it's tail. It might be because of Dylan Von Wagner's alarmist vox that shakes and trembles. His unique vocal aesthetic is (for the most part) on edge, tightly wound vibrato, it is something that I love about his voice. When I first heard Crazy Eight with that Moog hooky riff it felt sort of 1980's new wave with a dystopian tinge. I actually thought of Duran Duran but a more punk version (of course), DD was laid back even at there most rabid compared to Imaginary People who are always at this kind of full tilt punk at heart mode and Von Wagner, not tonally but in terms of sardonic wit and worry, does have that sort of Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys) protest punk sense that I really appreciate. He says some interesting things about Crazy Eight:
"Derived from a moog riff and drum machine sequence, it's what happens when an analyst delves into the mind of a young patient that plays in a dark circle. Once a human begins a certain disturbing experience where there seems to be no wrong, they're left with the paralyzing draft of air that is the parasite of hopelessness."
And about their upcoming third full length album "Alibi" due to drop on July 12 (2020) which is ultimately about cultural clashes in the United States right now or as Von Wagner refers to it as a "cultural civil war":
“I just think we’re in an ultimate fight right now,” he says. “Our society is falling apart and the ins and outs of our cultural differences are splitting – it feels like what one person says is right and what the other person says is wrong and that’s it. The whole time we were doing the record, it felt like normalcy was falling apart. The things you’d think would ordinarily be right and wrong aren’t happening anymore, and that was very disturbing to me.”
Imaginary People is: Dylan Von Wagner (vox, guitar), Mark Roth (guitar), Justin Repasky (keys/synth), Kolby Wade (drums), Bryan Percivall (bass/synth), and Grant Zubritsky (synth).
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
About the song Imaginary People's Dylan Von Wagner says:
"Derived from a moog riff and drum machine sequence, it's what happens when an analyst delves into the mind of a young patient that plays in a dark circle. Once a human begins a certain disturbing experience where there seems to be no wrong, they're left with the paralyzing draft of air that is the parasite of hopelessness."
New York City-based band Imagainary People have announced the release of their third full-length album Alibi due July 12.
Imaginary People's forthcoming release Alibi is a response to the cultural civil war that Von Wagner sees unfolding all across the USA. “I just think we’re in an ultimate fight right now,” he says. “Our society is falling apart and the ins and outs of our cultural differences are splitting – it feels like what one person says is right and what the other person says is wrong and that’s it. The whole time we were doing the record, it felt like normalcy was falling apart. The things you’d think would ordinarily be right and wrong aren’t happening anymore, and that was very disturbing to me.”
That cultural dystopia bristles through Alibi’s 11 songs. Recorded by Phil Weinrobe (Nick Murphy, Pussy Riot, Stolen Jars) at Rivington 66 in New York City, as well as upstate with Eli Crews at Spillway Sound in the Catskills, and mixed by Eli Crews (Tuneyards, Deerhoof, Xylouris White) at Figure 8 in Brooklyn. This is an album that shimmers with a twisted beauty, which feeds off all of that disturbing substance and turns it into something both harrowing and beautiful.
As such, the band – completed by Mark Roth (guitar), Justin Repasky (keys/synth), Kolby Wade (drums), Bryan Percivall (bass/synth), and with additional synth work by Grant Zubritsky – have not just perfectly captured the times in which this record was written, but have managed to turn the nightmare of the modern world into something truly exquisite, pitting emotional vulnerability against an almost resigned stoicism. Just listen to the way that Von Wagner’s voice trembles on opener “It’s Simple” – the tenderly mournful opener written minutes after the singer watched the gun massacre at Stoneman Douglas High School unfold on live television – or the tentative fragility and dark romanticism of “Bronx Girl”, which manages to still be hopeful in a world without hope. Elsewhere, the jittery “Neon Age” rails against a world in which people present a different version of their lives to society in order to impress them.
Right in the middle of it all is a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “State Trooper” – an unusual choice, but one that fits right in with the tone, atmosphere and outlook of the rest of the record, as well as Von Wagner’s almost nihilistic vision of the world.
While there are glimpses of light throughout the darkness that permeates every aspect of Alibi – one that captures the nature of what humanity has become – and while its songs do reflect the harsh, bleak reality of being alive – and of the coldness and meanness of the big city, especially when the world feels like it’s collapsing – it also manages to exist on its own, and on its own terms.
“Imaginary People are just in our own little world,” says Von Wagner. “I don’t think we really participate, we live in New York and it was made here, but we just keep to ourselves. I don’t know where this stuff comes from or why I feel this way and write this. I feel like it’s a weird addiction that I can’t shake, and I don’t think any psychoanalysis is going to shed light on it.”
Welcome, then, to the world of Alibi. It’s a cold, dark, lonely place, but so is the world. Stick around long enough, however, and the light might just start to shine through.
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