photo courtesy of joshua wildman // "This movie is about / The search to be deep / Your life - isn't dark enough / To repeat..."
The stepping off an unknown curb jump scares of "Screenplay" by the artfully off kilter Aitis Band, and from their upcoming 4th album "IV", is so wonderful at staging a droning unsettling vibe and holding onto it while Melina Ausikaitis' 'sprechgesang' vocal style holds absolute sway. Her tonal aloof deadstare is not really as monotone as it is somehow gleefully devious (to me). The talky style not reminiscent of but not unlike Dry Cleaning or black midi makes for a performance art framework of sorts but utterly cinematic too, that is if the directors were J.T. Mollner and Oz Perkins. I don't say that as some veiled punchline but a punch through, I mean I could have seen "Screenplay" in both Strange Darling and The Monkey and fitting as perfectly as that last puzzle piece.
In the end (and from the beginning) "Screenplay" works on many levels settling underneath your skin as a beautiful oddity to mesmerize you in the same way that any edgy dark piece of art does but also works in an absurdist way or in the realization that life itself is the ultimate comedic pratfall. Whether the seeds here stem from us all acting (and oftentimes horrible things happen) or that trying to be our real self is fucking scary, there are so many thought bubbles that arise as you listen. Hell, maybe it is better not knowing.
Love all the lyrics but this passage sticks to me:
"The way out is the way
All feelings feltNo cares beyond today
I am my present self
Who do you call in a seance
The cemetery is boring
His parents are still alive
He practices a look of mourning
There's a suicide attempt
And a chase scene
Find an actress
Who can scream and scream"
Cool.
LINER NOTES (excerpted / bracketed):
[Aitis Band is a combination of haunted houses and that’s what she said jokes. The trio’s funny, morbid, lyric-driven songs literally report on what she said and how scary it was. Since 2019 former Joan of Arc members Bobby Burg (Love of Everything) and Melina Ausikaitis continue their collaboration with the addition of visual artist/musician Ray Borchers. Aitis Band indulge their love of clubbing, teen girl-ness, and tragic figures, both real and imagined, with songs that range from wistful ballads to anthemic noise-fests. They hang in a purgatory between too much art school and just enough 80’s night. Ausikaitis’ vocals slide easily into a funereal bath water that Burg and Borchers slowly turn up to a boil.]
[The Band’s instrumentation is dueling Roland eg101 drum machines/keyboards and a MicroKorg. Controlling 3 keyboards at once, Ray uses weights to set drones while adding new notes with her hands and feet. Melina plays a stringless fake guitar with a contact mic through Earthquaker Devices effect pedals and sings. Bobby plays bass.]
[AITIS BAND - IV is their 4th album and was produced by former bandmate Nate Kinsella. Nate also mixed Aitis Band - III as well as Joan of Arc’s -1984 & Tim Melina Theo Bobby.]
An added layer here is the engaging Official Video. So much fun.
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3sL1CQLqDwZfkULaNSo0Zm
https://aitisband.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/aitisband/
https://www.facebook.com/aitisband/
Aitis Band is a combination of haunted houses and that’s what she said jokes. The trio’s funny, morbid, lyric-driven songs literally report on what she said and how scary it was. Since 2019 former Joan of Arc members Bobby Burg (Love of Everything) and Melina Ausikaitis continue their collaboration with the addition of visual artist/musician Ray Borchers. Aitis Band indulge their love of clubbing, teen girl-ness, and tragic figures, both real and imagined, with songs that range from wistful ballads to anthemic noise-fests. They hang in a purgatory between too much art school and just enough 80’s night. Ausikaitis’ vocals slide easily into a funereal bath water that Burg and Borchers slowly turn up to a boil.
Since October 2019 Aitis Band has played throughout the US, sharing bills with Dry Cleaning, Circuit des Yeux, Black Dice, Parquet Courts, Jesus Lizard, No Age, Robert AA Lowe, Ryley Walker, Dustin Wong, Air Waves, Man on Man, and a midwest tour opening for American Football.
The Band’s instrumentation is dueling Roland eg101 drum machines/keyboards and a MicroKorg. Controlling 3 keyboards at once, Ray uses weights to set drones while adding new notes with her hands and feet. Melina plays a stringless fake guitar with a contact mic through Earthquaker Devices effect pedals and sings. Bobby plays bass.
AITIS BAND - IV is their 4th album and was produced by former bandmate Nate Kinsella. Nate also mixed Aitis Band - III as well as Joan of Arc’s -1984 & Tim Melina Theo Bobby.
https://aitisband.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/aitisband/
https://www.facebook.com/aitisband/
Aitis Band is a combination of haunted houses and that’s what she said jokes. The trio’s funny, morbid, lyric-driven songs literally report on what she said and how scary it was. Since 2019 former Joan of Arc members Bobby Burg (Love of Everything) and Melina Ausikaitis continue their collaboration with the addition of visual artist/musician Ray Borchers. Aitis Band indulge their love of clubbing, teen girl-ness, and tragic figures, both real and imagined, with songs that range from wistful ballads to anthemic noise-fests. They hang in a purgatory between too much art school and just enough 80’s night. Ausikaitis’ vocals slide easily into a funereal bath water that Burg and Borchers slowly turn up to a boil.
Since October 2019 Aitis Band has played throughout the US, sharing bills with Dry Cleaning, Circuit des Yeux, Black Dice, Parquet Courts, Jesus Lizard, No Age, Robert AA Lowe, Ryley Walker, Dustin Wong, Air Waves, Man on Man, and a midwest tour opening for American Football.
The Band’s instrumentation is dueling Roland eg101 drum machines/keyboards and a MicroKorg. Controlling 3 keyboards at once, Ray uses weights to set drones while adding new notes with her hands and feet. Melina plays a stringless fake guitar with a contact mic through Earthquaker Devices effect pedals and sings. Bobby plays bass.
AITIS BAND - IV is their 4th album and was produced by former bandmate Nate Kinsella. Nate also mixed Aitis Band - III as well as Joan of Arc’s -1984 & Tim Melina Theo Bobby.
Aitis Band, gothic, darkwave, industrial, abstract indie, alt rock, electronica, performance art, "Screenplay" (Official Video), horror pop, existential pop, absurdist rock, 4th album "IV", lead vocalist Melina Ausikaitis,
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