Hello all! I know we are all reeling from my previous announcement of an upcoming WEEKLY piece. Well, guess what… it’s here, it’s a party, and all of you funky homosapians are invited. So, grab your shiniest hat and your slickest dancing shoes, it’s Listening Party, folks, and no party poopers are allowed! (Unless that’s your thing, then you do you. No judgement here).
“But how will Listening Party work, Daw?” you may be asking. It’s really quite simple: I’m the DJ and the party host. Each article will be about ONE song that is brand-spanking-new. At the start of the article you should play the song and read my little ditty I have written up for your consumption. Then, at your leisure, feel free to write what you think about the song, emotions it may illicit, or you can just wax poetic about whatever the hell you want on Listening Party’s discord server: https://discord.gg/JRckQd2xKh With your participation, this could be really fun. Oh! And I will try and respond to as many comments as I can. Let’s see how this goes…
“It’s All Fun and Games Until Someone Gets Hurt” is a fuzz-forward track from Brooklyn-based The Big Easy that checks every box that I’m looking for: we have some mild soloing; we have some guitar tracks overlaid each other, battling for pure track domination; and we have vocals that make me mosh just a little bit. Oh the fuzz, this track is fuzzier than Fozzi Bear. This song is so fuzzy that I got a static shot to my brain when I threw it on the first time. I can taste colors now. I’m getting hints of Harlem’s “Free Drugs ;)” or maybe even Diarrhea Planet’s “I’m Rich beyond Your Wildest Dreams” here.
From the first second of this song you are getting taken on a ride of pounding drums and distortion soaked guitar riffs. It’s like I’m getting thrashed against boulders in a sea of punk rock. The vocals are a siren that keeps pulling me up for air only to get thrashed again. I, for one, love that shit.
The Big Easy is the brainchild of Stephen Berthomieux (guitar, bass, vocals), and their debut album A Long Year absolutely rips. “It’s All Fun and Games Until Someone Gets Hurt” is the first track on the album and it sets the tone for what I personally think is an instant classic. On their twitter, The Big Easy referenced an article from The Alternative saying that they are “lonely stoner punk”. Though, I think this description is great, I want to take it one step further.
People, I present to you “fuzzy loner stoner punk”. And “It’s All Fun and Games Until Someone Gets Hurt” is the master of its domain.
If you would like to submit any new music for consideration in next week’s listening party, please send a link to indiepong.listeningparty@gmail.com