"Keep my hair up, so it doesn't start to frizzle / A little make up, god I hope it doesn't drizzle / Uppers and downers just to keep me in the middle / Feel like a dummy who don't understand the riddle..."
From the get go, "My Head" by Soft Punch, the project of Washington D.C.-based musician Rye Thomas, takes off in blistering fashion with chunky guitar chords. On a solid drum beat, the B (tah dah dah dah) to G (tah dah dah dah dah) rock prog encompasses everything from classic 70's rock to 80's new wave to 90's post grunge and early aughts indie / garage rock / atl rock and beyond. It is instantly captivating, youthful and could step off into a hundreds of sonic possibilities.
I bring the obvious up because Rye Thomas (who years previously had toured with Tereu Tereu, operated Bad Friend Records, written for Rolling Stone and The Washington Post) hit a severe speed bump. In 2017, Rye's health deteriorated after coming down with ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome), a serious chronic disease that effects multiple systems in the body resulting in fatigue, sleep abnormalities, pain, and other symptoms that are made worse by exertion. Rye could not even turn on an amplifier without experiencing excruciating migraines but he never stopped writing music even if it was only for 30 minutes a day via a basic keyboard and a cassette recorder in a blacked-out bedroom. So I find it quite amazing and fucking inspiring that through all this Rye managed, with help from loved ones, to craft the solo album "Above Water" and I wonder what it was like managing all the those aforementioned possibilities through this kind of struggle.
From Press notes:
[With the help of his boyfriend, he's been slowly recording music as Soft Punch using an old tape machine set up just outside of his room. It's an arduous, piecemeal process--vocals one day, guitars two weeks later--but the result is personal, intimate, gorgeous, and a bit queer.
When his health improved enough to record an album, he’d already amassed a well-crafted catalog of songs. With the help of his longtime boyfriend, Rye outfitted his home studio with old tape and tubes for a classic sound, and he called up old friends to add expert instrumentation.]
So as I listen to "My Head" I am reminded of Rye's process and the wonder of possibilities in life and in art. After the punchy beginning, the song shifts into a kind of respite progression while still have incredible energy. I dig Rye's vocal countenance, the sound of his voice goes down easy, part power pop, part art rock whimsy. The track is incredibly vibrant and jammy. It, in fact, doesn't even sound tracked but, instead, like musicians facing each other and bouncing big walls of sound off one another. Rye's lyrics highlight this genre bending, poetry intact, seeds from life as full of surprises both dire and glorious.
"Where is my loyal congregation and my chorus? / Where is the temple with my name staked on it? / Where is the ark of the covenant? / Where is my Jericho and all my demolition? / Where is the promise, yeah, you know I want fruition? / Where is my clear cut skin? / Where is my big big win?"
Of the song Rye Thomas says:
"Whether it's migraines or my own thoughts, my head can be a brutal & unpredictable place. Just trying to get through the day can be an absurd challenge. We leaned into that absurdity with the music video. Strange geometric figures and flaming tape machines crowd my living situation, until the song escalates to its noisy conclusion."
"Whether it's migraines or my own thoughts, my head can be a brutal & unpredictable place. Just trying to get through the day can be an absurd challenge. We leaned into that absurdity with the music video. Strange geometric figures and flaming tape machines crowd my living situation, until the song escalates to its noisy conclusion."
Amazing track. The absurdist / truthful Official Video was directed by Jonathan Howard.
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://www.facebook.com/softpunchmusic/
https://twitter.com/RyanTereu
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3pxE8yc8kIGp1E2Pr3uDNN
https://softpunchmusic.bandcamp.com/album/above-water
https://www.instagram.com/softpunchmusic/
After loads of touring in noisy DC rock bands like Tereu Tereu, and independently operating Bad Friend Records, and writing for publications like Rolling Stone and The Washington Post, Ryan Little got sick. Over the course of several years, his health mysteriously declined and he gradually disappeared from public view.
His health dropped off a cliff in late 2017, and he's been mostly bedridden with a poorly understood disease called ME/CFS ever since. With the help of his boyfriend, he's been slowly recording music as Soft Punch using an old tape machine set up just outside of his room. It's an arduous, piecemeal process--vocals one day, guitars two weeks later--but the result is personal, intimate, gorgeous, and a bit queer.
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