The fall of western patriarchal capitalism is happening, and that’s either sending people into a tailspin of terror or energizing them to seize the new paradigm. Netherlands are in the latter group, and they carry their anti-capitalist, pro-environmentalism messages on the back of a psych-prog-sludge-pop beast! As we watch our governments scramble to appease the elites and distract the masses, we need to ask ourselves: are we trading real happiness and satisfaction for fleeting dopamine boosts, while we stuff our scarce resources into the pockets of a few? “We appear to have confused participating in a democracy, with masturbating (on Instagram).” Today I’m bringing you Netherlands’ scathing indictment of our false liberties and willingness to be manipulated in the form of their new video for “P.T.S.D.” It’s a bonus track off their record ZOMBIE TECHNO (UNDEAD) that comes out on October 30th – pre-order it here – a remastered version of 2020’s ZOMBIE TECHNO LP. This song and video lay bare the bizarre and wacky world of distraction that we nurture in order to avoid any real understanding of ourselves. Addictive, heavy, luminous sounds bounce around my skull while I’m processing the lyrical genius and depth of “P.T.S.D.” Witness it for yourself right here:
how closely do you really want to look?
how deeply do you really want to know?
bluster cools, in neutered dead ends,
safely corralled into a holding pen.
(*we’ll let you know when you become a threat.) passively erotic violence
white hat courtiers and sycophants
(no, you’re the man!)
there’s spin at the heart of the story
+ you are not the “exception”.
we are the sea,
we are the trees,
we are the sky.
..absent this simple recognition,
our entire existence
is based on a symphony of denial.
we appear to have confused participating
in a democracy, with masturbating (on Instagram).
because scholarship and nuance are not as sexy,
now anything can mean anything!
P.T.S.D!
shut down.
in late capitalist free fall,
in a kaleidoscope of tailspins
(we’re going down!)
if morality is circumstantial,
..what constitutes a burning building?
and if you threaten to take away their ice cream,
the U.S. will bomb you back to Stone Age
(without even flinching)
what are we gonna do??
(*but more importantly)
…how do I look, and when are we gonna eat??
P.T.S.D!
shock!
bulls on parade!