There are probably a couple dozen bands that have a particular sound, a sound that feels potently feral, politico, tribal with scowling vox in between talking / ranting /somewhat singing. In a sense diatribal, angry, rabble rousing touching on big issues, societal issues, the oppressive nature of governments, the corporate thumb on everyday people, the assault on the "other", free speech and self determination, punching back, saying fuck you to racism, classism, and all kinds of sexism. While I will not mention these bands I have a sense that their sonic D.N.A., their seeds of malcontent and justice seeking might stem from two musical outfits, maybe directly, maybe tangentially, namely Death Grips (2010) out of Sacramento, California and Idles (2009) out of Bristol, England. It is what I imagine anyway and I am sticking with it (for now).
I think this sound is so potent, so prevalent that it deserves a new genre, a new name. I am going to call this genre feargach punk as redundant as that maybe.
I have featured a number of these feargach punk bands on AP and some not. Most of the bands I have heard do what they do really well but with any sound that is proliferating the landscape, one tends to be a bit more picky on whose sound you gravitate towards. When I heard "CONVICTION" by Montreal alt rock (feargach punk) outfit Family Man I had no doubt that I wanted to expose AP's readers to them. No doubt. Family Man has a guttural, full throttle approach here, feral yet absolutely precise, vocals ranting in spoken words but also sung. The rattling drums and assaultive guitar work, at times, feels like gunshots, feels militaristic.
The relentless, beautiful mayhem made me think of an amalgam of Gang of Four, Dead Kennedys, Dwarves, Sarcófago (to name a few). As a said before, one aspect of feargach punk is giving power to the down trodden. At least in my country, America, the far right aligned with MAGA heads and White Nationals have waged war against the LGBTQ+ community in a huge way and Family Man has something to say in support. I like this.
Lead singer/guitarist Conner Root says, “the true nature of ‘CONVICTION’ speaks to how so many of us on all sides of the spectrum use arbitrary identifiers to not only judge and belittle others, but to excuse ourselves from finding who we actually are. There have always been members of Family Man who openly identify as being LGBTQ+, but the band adopts an ‘I am who I am, and if you don’t like that, I couldn’t care less’ mentality. ‘CONVICTION’’ is the first time we touch on that publicly.”
Amazing track, superbly hardcore in terms of it's emotional gravitational pull. I absolutely dig this track.
"Spit your sugar back to the crowd / Turpentine Erase me whole / I’d rather dine on rubber souls / I’m outta line but no one knows / And in the night I come on strong / But in the light I’m masculine / But I get high off your conviction / They don’t make it the beautiful die in flame / I can’t help it why your conviction does to me / I get high off your conviction / I get high off your conviction..."
Fucking rad.
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4CpA5E2uTlbIgUSrDQH9mB
https://www.instagram.com/familyman_music/
https://music.apple.com/us/album/blue-single/1463897769
https://www.tiktok.com/@familymantheband
Relentless and brutal are the two words that define the group’s evolving sound. With punk roots and power-pop sensibilities, Alternative-Punk band Family Man burst onto the scene in 2022. Their debut EP “What’s New” is a refined cacophony of experimental synths, deeply personal lyricism and punk enthusiasm, inspired by the turmoil of one of the members’ recent breakups. But when asked about the future, the band has said that they are moving on to address deeper issues such as sexuality, religion, deeply rooted trauma, and death. Iconoclast, the forthcoming album explores the darker sides of the member’s life experiences and condenses it all into a gut-wrenching and poignantly intentional piece of work. Despite the weight of the topics Iconoclast is based on, the group has managed to retain a “tongue-in-cheekiness” about themselves, which speaks to the underlying theme of finding true comfort in the most uncomfortable situations. This is undoubtedly the rawest Family Man has ever been.
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