Seriously kids, I don’t know where my eyes (or rather my ears) have been for the last couple of months. The brilliant LiVES are back with their new single, “Cancelled”, and it has been out since July and I just found out about it. The band will be playing a short tour alongside JW Paris shortly, so we thought it would be a great idea to introduce this brilliant track to our readers. “Cancelled” as usual, is fast paced, angry and very, very political. And yours truly is a big fan of political post punk/alternative rock that has absolutely no mercy for partisan pettiness, small mindlessness and racism, especially in the election year.
Single cover
Official bio: From frenetic, screeching guitars, pulsating drums and bass and brash choruses, to stripped bare, lo-fi introspective (galvanized with socio-political lyrics), UK rock act LiVES delivers a raw, unapologetic, guitar driven sound that makes them one hell of a tasty racket! LiVES was formed by Peter Chisholm formerly of cult UK rock duo (along with his brother Alex) THE SEA. As The Sea, they released 3 studio albums and played over 1000 concerts and festivals (Glastonbury, SXSW, Eurosonic, CMJ) and supported Muse and The Kills on UK and European tours. Paul, Alex and bassist Dan Billing, are now back to what they do best – hard hitting guitar led rock! Firmly sitting in the rock and post punk sphere. Coupling their aggressive soundscape with explicit lyrics, LiVES make music for the disenfranchised, for the people that don’t belong. Their story is melodic, angry, visceral and LOUD.
The band’s new album, “Let Them Eat Cake” will be released on October 25th 2024.
Oh, this is going to be a brilliant review, as the material I work with today is absolutely top notch. I have to say, there is nothing a reviewer likes better than a well written, emotional, and powerful track that takes no prisoners and speaks the truth straight into people’s faces.
LiVES photographed by Sara Benhs
“Cancelled” speaks the truth loud and clear – well, at least the truth as seen by the band anyway. These days, everybody’s a critic and everybody seems to have their own version of the truth. I might not fully agree with the band’s full take on things, but I’m more than happy to stand behind the main statement of this track – we are all sick and tired of what’s been going on with politics. People are disenfranchised with war, politics, agendas – not because they do not care, but they truly feel like their voice doesn’t matter. Nobody seems to be listening to the people, who according to all kinds of polls and surveys, are nowhere as extreme as the people running our countries. They are not bothered by trans panic, or supposed woke propaganda pushed by the conservatives. They just want to live in peace, with enough food on the table, warm houses and working NHS.
The leading name of LiVES has some very strong words about social media and the comments he comes across while people debate various, mostly political issues. He says: “’Cancelled’ is about my feeling of disenfranchisement of online and political society, my total despondence and hatred of the right AND the left. Far right and postmodernism attitudes which are played out on the comments sections of all social media platforms. I see no difference in either of those sides. They claim to be decent whilst being indecent, tolerant whilst being intolerant, in every way they both represent the total opposites of what they claim to stand for. They are so alike, always outraged, self-righteous, aggressive, violent. They are swimming in hypocrisy and can’t see it. Meanwhile, the real elite destroy the world around us, seemingly unnoticed whilst we fight amongst ourselves. I hate them all!!”.
“Cancelled” stands at 4 minute and 15 minutes. It’s a very toned, on purpose droning, and repetitive, mid tempo track with absolutely stunning main bass and rhythm guitar riff throughout the track. Seriously, I hear influences from The The, Therapy and Benefits in it, very cleverly presented and served. The track is intense without being loud, screaming without the volume, angry and furious, without the thundering drums. It’s claustrophobic, vibrating, silently drilling right into your brain. Excellent post punk number that should be on every rebel’s daily listening schedule. If we can only get the message across to a larger group of people, maybe things would change faster?
Good news is that things are changing. Lies are slowly being labeled correctly with community notes on social media, people are checking their sources and many are calling for kinder and more thoughtful debate. Hopefully, with Trump defeated in the November election, the world will become more manageable.
LiVES are bringing their electrifying music and unshakable political views on tour with JW Paris. You can see them playing live at:
20th of September – Cameo, Ashford, tickets
23rd of September – O2 Academy, Islington (with SPAN and LiVES), tickets
24th of September – The Horn, St Albans, tickets
26th of September – The Six Six Bar, Cambridge, tickets
LiVES online:
www.livesliveslives.com
www.instagram.com/lives.music
www.facebook.com/lives.official
www.youtube.com/@lives_official
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1X2QW4h31G6RWgQikFkllc?si=qZOdKu7aRV2YyP2AmwayvQ
https://linktr.ee/lives_official
Rita Dabrowicz
Indieterria 