"I guess today’s the day / You started paying to play / There’s nothing out here for free don’t you see / Trick or treat is the key mon ami..."
The darkly drawn, dystopian rave blast of "Tension", a reimagining of "Simulacra" by no wave / post punk Charm School (the latest project from Louisville, KY born and LA-based multi-hyphenate artist Andrew Sellers and his longtime collaborators Matt Filip, Drew English & Brian Vega) and Portland music producer Cryb, feels so potently different as to be a bipolar version of the original. Not only is the time sig swapped out, sonically the rattling distortions and dirty tubular synths provide an eerie sense that feels like carnival mirrors but this sound also winks at you a bit and in this way invites you to either dance or exorcise demons.
Cryb not only shifts the shadow sonically but lyrically as he smartly edits the original in clever ways. Many lyrics are dropped and what is lost in narrative is gained in a sort of sparse bloodletting. I can't figure out if Andrew Sellers re-sang this track or it was entirely transformed in post but however it was accomplished it works entirely, perfectly and the poetic extraction of "Tension" from attention works in a multi-leveled way.
Charm School share this about the track:
[This is a remix our friend Cryb did of our very 1st single - "Simulacra". It's on an EP of remixes with other mixes done by the late, great Steve Albini and LA's Matia Simovich (of INHALT).]
LYRICS
Simulacra & simulation
Our daily sun
Speculating on speculations
It’s so much fun
Seroquel and other pills
You get your fill
Trying to get some attention
Charm School share this about the track:
[This is a remix our friend Cryb did of our very 1st single - "Simulacra". It's on an EP of remixes with other mixes done by the late, great Steve Albini and LA's Matia Simovich (of INHALT).]
LYRICS
Simulacra & simulation
Our daily sun
Speculating on speculations
It’s so much fun
Seroquel and other pills
You get your fill
Trying to get some attention
Trying to get some attention
Tension
Tension
Tension
A Funeral parade of roses
All thumbing their noses
Getting played by AI lust
But don’t make a fuss
Tension
Tension
Tension
You say you will you say you won’t
You do and then you don’tBut I’m not listening
Simulacra & simulation
trying to get some
Tension
Tension
Tension
LINER NOTES (excerpted / bracketed):
[Their first EP “Finite Jest”, released in July of 2023, introduced listeners to a philosophically minded, crushingly loud critique of modern life’s increasingly maddening realities. Their debut LP “Debt Forever”, released in January of 2025, introduced a broader range of stylistic influences and a far more acerbic viewpoint, its lyrics drenched in addictively salty, satirical humor.]
[“Schadenfreude Ploy”, out February 20th, picks up where “Debt Forever” left off — with further musings on humanity’s collective tortured psyche and the many confounding implications of living in today’s technocratic hellscape. The concepts of Tech billionaires & A.I. loom large, as well as modern life’s various manipulation traps which seem to be more and more ubiquitous and less and less escapable.]
[The EP was tracked and mixed by Mike Bridavsky at Russian Recording (Deerhoof, Built To Spill), with additional production and mixing by Solomon Krause-Imlach in Los Angeles. It was mastered by Greg Obis at Chicago Mastering Service (co-owned by Bob Weston of Shellac, a man who’s musical past is weaved together tightly with Louisville’s).]
-Robb Donker Curtius
The Chicken Wheel will take you to the AP Go Fund Me- and any amount is so appreciated!
https://soundcloud.com/charm-school777/simulacra
https://charmschool777.bandcamp.com/album/schadenfreude-ploy
https://www.instagram.com/charmschool.band
LINER NOTES (excerpted / bracketed):
[Their first EP “Finite Jest”, released in July of 2023, introduced listeners to a philosophically minded, crushingly loud critique of modern life’s increasingly maddening realities. Their debut LP “Debt Forever”, released in January of 2025, introduced a broader range of stylistic influences and a far more acerbic viewpoint, its lyrics drenched in addictively salty, satirical humor.]
[“Schadenfreude Ploy”, out February 20th, picks up where “Debt Forever” left off — with further musings on humanity’s collective tortured psyche and the many confounding implications of living in today’s technocratic hellscape. The concepts of Tech billionaires & A.I. loom large, as well as modern life’s various manipulation traps which seem to be more and more ubiquitous and less and less escapable.]
[The EP was tracked and mixed by Mike Bridavsky at Russian Recording (Deerhoof, Built To Spill), with additional production and mixing by Solomon Krause-Imlach in Los Angeles. It was mastered by Greg Obis at Chicago Mastering Service (co-owned by Bob Weston of Shellac, a man who’s musical past is weaved together tightly with Louisville’s).]
-Robb Donker Curtius
The Chicken Wheel will take you to the AP Go Fund Me- and any amount is so appreciated!
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://soundcloud.com/charm-school777/simulacra
https://charmschool777.bandcamp.com/album/schadenfreude-ploy
https://www.instagram.com/charmschool.band
https://www.facebook.com/CharmSchool777
Charm School = LA-based No Wave Post Punk originally from Louisville, KY (home of Slint, Rodan, Crain, The Shipping News, etc.).
"Charm School has tapped into a well of influence that includes both The Fall and Pere Ubu and more modern No Wave-esque post-punkers Lithics and Protomartyr."
- Queen City Sounds & Art
Charm School is the latest project from Andrew Sellers (aka Andrew Charm) and longtime collaborators Matt Filip, Drew English, & Brian Vega, along with drummer and multi-instrumentalist Jason Bemis Lawrence. The name change signals a move away from Charm's previous songwriting (as evidenced by his recent duet with Bonnie “Prince” Billy) toward a much darker and more aggressive sound. Think 70s Post-Punk & No Wave mixed with 90s Post-Rock and you’ll be close.
Originally from Louisville, KY, Sellers has paid his dues in both the NYC and LA DIY music scenes, co-founding The Body Actualized Center in Bushwick and helping run the DIY venue Basic Flowers in Downtown LA.
Charm School's 1st EP 'Finite Jest' was released in 2023, and their forthcoming LP (titled 'Debt Forever') is due out in January of 2025.
RIYL: The Fall, Gang Of Four, Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Protomartyr, Public Image Ltd., IDLES, Swans, The Jesus Lizard, & Wire.
Charm School = LA-based No Wave Post Punk originally from Louisville, KY (home of Slint, Rodan, Crain, The Shipping News, etc.).
"Charm School has tapped into a well of influence that includes both The Fall and Pere Ubu and more modern No Wave-esque post-punkers Lithics and Protomartyr."
- Queen City Sounds & Art
Charm School is the latest project from Andrew Sellers (aka Andrew Charm) and longtime collaborators Matt Filip, Drew English, & Brian Vega, along with drummer and multi-instrumentalist Jason Bemis Lawrence. The name change signals a move away from Charm's previous songwriting (as evidenced by his recent duet with Bonnie “Prince” Billy) toward a much darker and more aggressive sound. Think 70s Post-Punk & No Wave mixed with 90s Post-Rock and you’ll be close.
Originally from Louisville, KY, Sellers has paid his dues in both the NYC and LA DIY music scenes, co-founding The Body Actualized Center in Bushwick and helping run the DIY venue Basic Flowers in Downtown LA.
Charm School's 1st EP 'Finite Jest' was released in 2023, and their forthcoming LP (titled 'Debt Forever') is due out in January of 2025.
RIYL: The Fall, Gang Of Four, Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Protomartyr, Public Image Ltd., IDLES, Swans, The Jesus Lizard, & Wire.
Charm School, LA based NO WAVE POST PUNK, Louisville KY bred, abstract post punk, punk, alt rock, garage rock, indie rock, noise rock,, "Schadenfreude Ploy" EP, Cryb Simulacra remix as "Tension", dystopian, art punk, dramatic,
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