"Face exposed on the block of another street / Stop and pose another brand you gotta compete..."
The hyper kinetic angular alt punk pummeling of "Great Design" by Consumables, the fierce NYC-based art punk quartet, rides on iconic East Coast new wave power pop-esque predilections and 90's post punk abstractions. I thought of a lot of iconic seeds including the jagged dice and slice guitars of bands like Bloc Party or The Futureheads and the sort of Sprechgesang vocal attack of outfits like Squid or Do Nothing. How can you not absolutely love the bass and drum anchor with the hooky E / F punch, the accentuating 80's synths, the counter positioned guitar screams and the acerbically thrown down prose with back seat vox for added effect.
"Overexposed on the road to obsolete
Locked and froze in the throes of the backseatA vacancy you gotta take up and, a void you gotta fill
Just impose you're a product god intended to eat
Trapped in your great design
Another face you gotta refine
Trapped in your own design
In a place already confined"
https://www.instagram.com/consumables.bk
https://consumables.bandcamp.com/album/infinite-games
It all fits like some mad classically indie, furiously intelligent puzzle, too: CONSUMABLES’ debut album ‘Infinite Games’ was produced and co-written by Ben Hozie of BODEGA and engineered and mixed by Adam Sachs (Wives, Diary). It’s a concept record inspired by James P. Carse’s book ‘Finite and Infinite Games’. Finite games have boundaries, rules, and clear winners and losers. Infinite games have no winner; the goal is to simply continue the play. “Relationships are a key example of infinite games. So much unnecessary suffering happens when a person plays a finite game in an infinite game scenario (or vice versa),” explains Kyle.
The ‘Infinite Games’ LP starts off with a reflection of Kyle’s six month incarceration (marijuana conviction) in ‘Keys to the Cell’ before segueing into the suicidal ideation of ‘Dry Rot.’ The psych-skate punk prog diptych of ‘Messages / Lost in Translation’ laments the fundamentals of communication breaking down, and ‘Ten Toes Down’ is a tender ballad devoted to keeping the play of a romantic relationship alive. Standout cut ‘Emotional Speedball’ meanwhile is a synth pop anthem on the highs and lows of lust.
The earworming angst of the album culminates with an epiphany in the title track ‘Infinite Games’. (“What was once known, now is felt”). The band takes flight with a euphoric singalong jam (“I feel limitless/ this is what freedom is”) that evokes the peak of a psychedelic experience. This musical open-heartedness expresses the limitlessness felt when a relationship is played with an infinite mindset.
Something dramatic this way comes…
LINER NOTES (bracketed):
[Their debut album, "Infinite Games", co-written and produced by Bodega’s Ben Hozie, cuts to the heart of contemporary alienation by grappling with the desperate quest for control in a world drowning in chaos and unpredictability. The band is made up of Kyle Crew (vocals, guitar), Miles Fox (vocals, bass, synth), Hector Guillen (drums), and Dylan Joyce (guitar). ‘Great Design’ is their brilliantly cranky brand new single, and the first track to be taken from the album which is released on March 7th on We Are Time Records (North America & South America) and Fierce Panda Records (Rest Of The World).]
[As musical signposts go, ‘Great Design’ is designed to provoke and invigorate, scattered as it is with glowing shards of shattered post-punk guitar and glowering references to playing the fame game. Or, as Miles Fox admits, “(It’s about) addiction to social media and the obsession with force-feeding your presence to the masses. Laying yourself out to be criticised and torn apart.”]
[Although New York City boys, Consumables all come from very different backgrounds; Kyle is from the unlikely rock breeding ground of Arkansas and Hector grew up in Panama where he earned his rhythmic chops playing prog. Miles, whose synth pop gems are the perfect foil to Kyle’s rock tracks, is originally from Seattle, and new member Dylan (from Brooklyn’s Balaclava) is from Massachusetts.]
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://www.instagram.com/consumables.bk
https://consumables.bandcamp.com/album/infinite-games
It all fits like some mad classically indie, furiously intelligent puzzle, too: CONSUMABLES’ debut album ‘Infinite Games’ was produced and co-written by Ben Hozie of BODEGA and engineered and mixed by Adam Sachs (Wives, Diary). It’s a concept record inspired by James P. Carse’s book ‘Finite and Infinite Games’. Finite games have boundaries, rules, and clear winners and losers. Infinite games have no winner; the goal is to simply continue the play. “Relationships are a key example of infinite games. So much unnecessary suffering happens when a person plays a finite game in an infinite game scenario (or vice versa),” explains Kyle.
The ‘Infinite Games’ LP starts off with a reflection of Kyle’s six month incarceration (marijuana conviction) in ‘Keys to the Cell’ before segueing into the suicidal ideation of ‘Dry Rot.’ The psych-skate punk prog diptych of ‘Messages / Lost in Translation’ laments the fundamentals of communication breaking down, and ‘Ten Toes Down’ is a tender ballad devoted to keeping the play of a romantic relationship alive. Standout cut ‘Emotional Speedball’ meanwhile is a synth pop anthem on the highs and lows of lust.
The earworming angst of the album culminates with an epiphany in the title track ‘Infinite Games’. (“What was once known, now is felt”). The band takes flight with a euphoric singalong jam (“I feel limitless/ this is what freedom is”) that evokes the peak of a psychedelic experience. This musical open-heartedness expresses the limitlessness felt when a relationship is played with an infinite mindset.
Something dramatic this way comes…
Consumables, alt rock, alt pop, new wave, 80's music tones, hyper kinetic, power pop, East Coast funk punk, "Great Design" (Official Video), co-written by Ben Hozie of BODEGA, debut album ‘Infinite Games’ ,
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