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The Mic Recommends...

Check out this week's recommendations, featuring reviews of Nothing But Thieves, Scene Queen and Calva Louise.


Welcome to the DCC – Nothing But Thieves

‘New song, new city, new era’ appears to be the perfect tagline for Welcome to the DCC; the impactful new single from Nothing But Thieves. Marking their comeback, after only one release since their completed Moral Panic album in 2021, the band have veered away from their roots in modern rock to experiment with more dance-inspired rhythms in this song. As a long-time subscriber to their mailing list, I was both excited and perplexed to be receiving emails welcoming me to Dead Club City, and I am always a sucker for some interactive marketing when an artist teases new music. So this, along with the genre switch, makes for a very enticing upcoming album, set to be released in early July. With big thematic projects like Moral Panic, Nothing But Thieves are no novices when it comes to curating cohesive bodies of work, with the dystopian glam of this single promising a new age for the band. Perhaps this is the aftermath of the last album, the lost remaining few, partying at the end of the world now the hysteria has subsided…the possibilities are endless. Tabitha Smith


Feast Is Over – Calva Louise

I was certainly aware that a heavier era of Calva Louise was nearing in, especially after their earlier single this year, Third Class Citizen. Feast Is Over solidifies the band’s firm holding in the metalcore genre: with Jess’ ripping vocal screams and classic-metal-esque guitar riffs, Calva Louise have reintroduced themselves this year as not only a fantastic and unique indie-rock band with sci-fi visuals but also a completely unpredictable and versatile outfit that do metal really well. With sci-fi and media at the core of Calva Louise’s identity, they let this integral theme guide their music, rather than finding themes to suit a genre that limits their personal growth. Who knows – maybe sci-fi will lead Calva Louise to depths we’re yet to be aware of, such as dance, electronic, or even country? But with a vision so focused, I believe any new music from the band will be something to feast on. Roxann Yus



18+ – Scene Queen

Scene Queen always delivers on politically-charged, sexually-liberating, and taboo-destroying tracks, so a track entitled 18+ was bound to fulfil these requirements. Racking up tens of thousands of listens before I even got to listen to it myself, it appeared the public had spoken! This song is absolutely relevant and is speaking to everyone! I had no idea what the song was about - I assumed the song would play with themes of porn, indecency, and even fetish. But I then thought – many of Scene Queen’s songs do, so why has this one been such a big success immediately upon release?

After a few lines in, it sunk it. Beneath the campiness that Scene Queen has branded herself in was a song with a bigger aim, namely: to highlight the infantilisation of younger fans that even extends to non-consensual and illegal sexual relations. Yet even handling such a heavy and disturbing topic, Scene Queen utilises her musical magic and wordplay to create contagiously rhythmic lyrics. And with that, you have thousands of fans repeating “Get those children off your… bus(ted)” – was this all part of the aim? We all know the lyrics – they’re so catchy – so we’re all spreading spoken warnings to people, and children, in the scene. She’s our guardian angel. Roxann Yus


Wired Up – Bobby Wolfgang & ZAND

I’ve been a committed fan of Bobby and ZAND for as long as I’ve been a writer and have followed their journeys up to this crucial collaboration. I remember popping up to Bobby’s story when they posted a hint about the collab – it’s been on my mind ever since. So, you can imagine how excited I am to finally hear it in all its glory – its sharable, likeable and repostable glory! Bobby has taken a step away from their project Strange Bones to focus on their skilful mixing and collaborating, so everything we love about Strange Bones – the unpredictability, plethora of noise, and chaos – is all completely core to Bobby’s solo work too. These words sound awfully similar to another artist… Yes – ZAND’s pop-cultural movement of Ugly Pop matches our desire for something weird, creepy, and horrific in all the right ways. So, as expected, Wired Up offers a whole lot of all of this. The lyrics “Say my name” on repeat have circled around my mind ever since its release – I guess you just need to be there. But one thing is for sure: I will be preaching both of their names on repeat. Roxann Yus

 

Edited by Roxann Yus


Cover image courtesy of Scene Queen via Facebook.

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