DREW:
please do not attempt to transgress
by acting out the role of the oppressor
menacing pose communicates cool
but where does it all end?
songs of status quo oppression
we don't need to hear again
nurturing victim's complexes
to spur obsessions
token fetishes
for cathartic release of trauma
WILL:
egos betray us
from a dark place of creativity comes inexcusable greed
glorified and idolized
we're distracted
romantic male artist, what a tired ideal
looped forever.. so many consumed
BENSON:
your ignorant tongue knows no bounds
how can you be so blind of your actions
[Written in response to the collective yawn from the scene at large when word leaked out of Michael Gira's sexual assault on Larkin Grimm. When artists who take transgressive postures in which they mirror the worst aspects of dominant culture, supposedly as ironic comment, are exposed as perpetuating those very aspects, that should recast their art and their lives in a new, more negative light. It's a shame that so rarely happens. --Drew]
Toronto band Respire deliver a post-hardcore tour de force on the largest scale possible, orchestrally rich and incessantly uncompromising. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 6, 2021