Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Real(s), Music As Insurgent Art records / Dirty Water records 2020.
Fresh on the heels of bringing you the two latest politically and socially charged singles from Midnight Oil I present a debut album from London based Real(s).
The album will be released on 3 November, the eve of the American election.
D.S.L.B. stands for Deep Song Love Bomb which is the name of the art collective formed by Dan Fatel (vocal, guitar), Louie Love (drums), Jim Scandal (guitar) and Gabi Garbutt (bass).
Real(s) provide the soundtrack to the chaos of the early 21st century that is no better exemplified than through the lens of the Trump presidency.
The collective has based their philosophy on the writings of Mark Fisher and his book “Capital Realism” which examines the failures of the free enterprise system.
This book is at the heart of the band’s identity and readings are delivered as part of their live shows.
Real(s) take to the stage with a revolutionary zeal as they belt out a perfect blend of ‘90s postpunk indie-rock while exploring topics such as climate change, global social and political upheaval, environmental destruction etc. via their thoughtful lyrics.
The collective doesn’t just limit themselves to music as their performances use all forms of artistic creativity to get their message across.
They dabble in Dadaism and surrealism and performance art as they seek to highlight the flaws in the system that enslaves most of us while pretending to offer us freedom.
This approach of using music as a vehicle for social change is not new, and indeed John Lennon’s Working Class Man expressed a similar viewpoint many years ago.
It is however pleasing for an old socialist like me to see that the youth of today are just as passionate about justice and equality as my generation were before most of them grew up and became luminaries in “the establishment’.
The first single from the album, Radiation, was released on 1 October and there is a film clip of it on YouTube.
Full album release via Dirty Water Records 3 November.
