“Apathy”
Nasty Bunch of Bitches
review by Mariah Foster
Music as a medium for change is not a revolutionary idea, but it seems to have been a while since we've seen a band issue the challenge to live in conscious awareness of our actions and their consequences. As such, we've slowly settled into the habit of consuming music with the same detached attitudes of boredom and complacency that we buy our sweat-shopped Walmart clothes with. We want easily digestible music that we can drunkenly grind to, and we want it now. There are those, however, who refuse to participate in the perpetuation of the status quo and consider the reinstitution of honest songwriting a duty of musical morality.
Greeley's brand spanking new punk band, Nasty Bunch of Bitches, approaches their music with a very South Park style of subversive sarcasm. Just as many claim that every joke contains a hint of truth, every irony exposed by the Bitches is presented in subtle hilarity, whether by mocking use of auto-tuning or through an unapologetically startling portrayal of a problem's futility.
“I wish I had a word that was derogatory/ That I could use to describe half of everybody/ You get one and I want one, too/ All you talk about is what your bitches do” begins “Bitches,” a song capturing the strong feminist foundation of the band. The Bitches write what needs to be said: the messages people have stopped listening to. And though the brutal honesty can come as a kick to the balls, it quickly becomes obvious that every seditious lyric is sung with a smile. “The joke is on the people who don't get the joke,” explains guitarist Michael Olivier. Even the title of their first album, set to be released this month, is an ironic representation of a miserable American truth. Crowned “Apathy,” the fourteen-track compilation pokes at everything from politics to personal experience in tunes we can all rock out to. “Innocence never really was my thing,” sings frontwoman Kayleigh “Jack Stallion” Gustkey, who brings her life perspectives to the album in songs like “Lower Management Sucks,” “Blood Bubbles,” and “Aids- The Best Present I Never Got.”
Of course, it just wouldn't be a punk band without contemptuously addressing consumerism with lyrics like, “I am not a consumer/ I'm a human.” In a track titled “My Trailer's a Mansion in Uganda,” audiences are reminded that “you don't know what poor is.” The band truly lives the beliefs that they preach, something exemplified by the fact that their new album has been entirely self-made. Kayleigh, Michael, and rhythm guitarist Brett Caton are all audio production students who have shouldered the entire responsibility for the project, from initial recordings to mixing and mastering.
“Apathy” is the perfect antidote to our sickeningly sterile society. After its release, Nasty Bunch of Bitches will begin playing more live shows. The group can be followed on Twitter and on facebook at www.facebook.com/thenbbband. Brace yourselves; Greeley is about to get nasty.
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