"Demonbird" by LA electro-shoegaze quintet Draag is phenomenal in it's sonic expressionism. It begins with a massive sound bottom heavy, punk / alt rock driven and in a sonic haze. Lean forward to pick out Jessica Huang's lyrical melodies that dip down or up in surprising ways, "Swallow it hole / You won’t choke / Try not to lie / It will betray you...", feels soothing while if peaks out of the violent storm. I know this sounds nuts but something about her melody made me think of 1979's "Everybody's happy nowadays" by the Buzzcocks if only tangentially, briefly and I like that.
I absolutely love the unrelenting pounding sound, feral and precise at the same time. Passion turned into a manic machine, "Get on the cross / Get on the cross / Watch it’s lost / Heaven across ...". The guitars, bass, drums attack, with running synth enhancements / ambience feels like something between a nightmare and dystopian chaos and I kept thinking (from the deciphering of the lyrics) that martyrdom is not all that it is cracked up to be. Maybe people or causes are mere tools used by corrupt entities / people.
Dip into some crucial info from press notes--
The album "Dark Fire Heresy" out April 28th (2023). Following the previous video for “Mitsuwa,” Jessica Huang continues to unpack and heal religious trauma, embodying what it might feel like to be a powerful man central to the inner circle of a patriarchal religious group, finally finding a voice for the women who were silenced. This looming imagery of the “Demonbird” is portrayed on a stunning wall of LED panels from LIMINAL space, who have created immersive 3D live visuals for Flying Lotus, Primus and many more.
"Demonbird" is an amazing piece of art. It ends with sounds that feel like a song in a fog. I don't know if it is from the public domain or a field recording or what it is but it stands as a mysterious addendum and it feels ghostly.
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7fKByRicmiWrFBEn90MvuM
https://www.instagram.com/draagsadpeople/
https://draagdraag.bandcamp.com/album/dark-fire-heresy
Today, LA electro-shoegaze quintet Draag drops a new cathartic single & video, debuted on PAPER, “Demonbird” ahead of the band’s debut album Dark Fire Heresy out April 28. Following the previous video for “Mitsuwa,” Jessica Huang continues to unpack and heal religious trauma, embodying what it might feel like to be a powerful man central to the inner circle of a patriarchal religious group, finally finding a voice for the women who were silenced. This looming imagery of the “Demonbird” is portrayed on a stunning wall of LED panels from LIMINAL space, who have created immersive 3D live visuals for Flying Lotus, Primus and many more.
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