"Ahoy / I saw you out at sea / Swimming by a buoy / bikini on the door / I know / 7 thousand facts / About this candle wax / they’ll never tell me off..."
The unbelievably rich, funk, indie rock / post punk-esque fused sound of "Spain" by Melbourne's phenomenal Radio Free Alice is saturated in artful angular abstractions and embedded with anchoring bass /drums dance and held up high by Noah Learmonth's vocal countenance that wears a dozen theatrical masks in ernest ways. His voice croons, yelps, feels as endearing as exasperating and always using a full throttle approach when he sings softly or loudly. In a previous piece on these talented folks I likened their sound to the halcyonic versions artists like Gang of Four, The Smiths, Television and Richard Hell and the Voidoids or an amalgam of all those essential artists, and I still feel this kind of proto punk, post punk sonic iconography.
About this track, the band shares:
"Spain’s about a wealthy, gluttonous pig of a man and his attempt to manipulate a younger, more attractive woman into dating him through money. It’s about how money is a social currency as well as a material one, and how dark and twisted that is. The band had to tinker with this one on the road while touring Europe, adding some extra parts etc in London."
AND know this track is about the worst kind of misogyny is revelatory and in full view on the track's chorus:
"A strong slave is still a slave
Apartments are depravedShout your mouth and kiss me honey
It’s always been the same
We could be arguing in Spain"
Great song in every possible way and politico, darkly drawn while sounding perversely cool, a broad based caveat for everyone, a thought piece as well as a potent and cool song.
-Robb Donker Curtius
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4cCA6V2DRIDqeYDyGIcEoj
https://www.instagram.com/radiofreealiceband/
Radio Free Alice’s angular sound feels fresh and immediate - guitars with clean tones and clever notes, melodic bass lines, urgent drumbeats, the occasional sax, and an operatic swagger that has left a string of sold out shows in their wake.
In the months since the Polyester EP's first single '2010' was released in May,Radio Free Alice have been on the road, touring the UK & Europe for the first time playing Rock For People,The Great Escape, Dot To Dot and Live at Leeds festivals, adding to an impressive - and growing - list of dates with The Snuts, Royel Otis, Django Django and Sorry.
They've been featured on the cover of DORK (UK), named one of Monster Children’s Bright Young Things in 2024with airplay & support from BBC Music 6, Apple Music 1, Radio X, triple j, FBi Radio, triple j Unearthed Feature Artist, CLASH, Rolling Stone, So Young Magazine and many, many others.
Radio Free Alice, post punk, Melbourne, alt rock, garage rock, gothic, punk, indie rock, "Paris is Gone", jagged guitars, manic punk iterations, kinetic energy, youthful sonic transgressions, "Spain" (Official Video),
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4cCA6V2DRIDqeYDyGIcEoj
https://www.instagram.com/radiofreealiceband/
Radio Free Alice’s angular sound feels fresh and immediate - guitars with clean tones and clever notes, melodic bass lines, urgent drumbeats, the occasional sax, and an operatic swagger that has left a string of sold out shows in their wake.
In the months since the Polyester EP's first single '2010' was released in May,Radio Free Alice have been on the road, touring the UK & Europe for the first time playing Rock For People,The Great Escape, Dot To Dot and Live at Leeds festivals, adding to an impressive - and growing - list of dates with The Snuts, Royel Otis, Django Django and Sorry.
They've been featured on the cover of DORK (UK), named one of Monster Children’s Bright Young Things in 2024with airplay & support from BBC Music 6, Apple Music 1, Radio X, triple j, FBi Radio, triple j Unearthed Feature Artist, CLASH, Rolling Stone, So Young Magazine and many, many others.
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