“Peach Sprite” is the latest single from Detroit band Deadbeat Beat. Being the first track released from their forthcoming album From Here to Ohio (out in June on We Are Time Records), It attacks with an unnerving, yet calming guitar jangle. The drums from Maria Nuccilli and bass from Zak Freiling lock in surrounding the guitar and depth of atmosphere from keyboards provided by newly added fourth band member Pete Steffy. Lyrically, guitarist/vocalist Alex Glendening sings with rich vocal harmonies that, when combined with the guitar, drums, bass and other elements touches on early Flying Nun records bands, while overall the song seems to address themes of the illusion of choice and content in our modern society. However, like most Deadbeat Beat songs, it delves deeper than that. As stated in their press release the song “contemplates being past your prime in a time when basic survival seems uncertain, but still sounds like the most joyful anthem societal collapse is going to get.”

I first caught Deadbeat Beat playing live in Detroit years ago, and most recently myself and Adam saw them play with Shadow Show back in 2024 when they released their second full-length album Fantasy Now! At UFO Factory. Their live shows leave a lasting impression. Deadbeat Beat’s origins start with the friendship between Maria Nuccilli and Alex Glendening, who met in middle school. Often talked about in interviews, their musical bond creates a unique dynamic in this band. When combined with Zak Freiling’s punchy, melodic basslines it is a nostalgic, catchy and effective musical experience.

From Here to Ohio follows 2020’s How Far, an album that showcased the band’s extremely catchy songs finding itself somewhere in between garage and indie rock with dash of punk. Prior to the this the band had some EPs, demos and another album released in 2017 (When I Talk To You). With From Here to Ohio set for a June release date, Deadbeat Beat add more depth to their sound and “Peach Sprite” is the first evidence of their new sonic journey.

Deadbeat Beat is playing live in Windsor, ON at Meteor on Saturday March 21st with Kiwi Jr.

In this podcast, Dave and Adam talk with Alex and Maria from Deadbeat Beat. They talk of music streaming, CDRs, recording “Peach Sprite” and the songs on From Here to Ohio, playing a show with Hamish Kilgour of The Clean, in addition of some of their history and more.

Pre-order From Here to Ohio and hear “Peach Sprite” at:

Socials:

Deadbeat Beat

We Are Time

“This Snow Crash thing—is it a virus, a drug, or a religion?”

“What’s the difference?”

~ Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash (1992)

Although Stephenson’s pioneering novel may be better known for its establishing the term “metaverse,” Snow Crash is less concerned over prescient predictions of future technology than with themes of language, religion, and virality. It is a work in which these three concepts are inextricable, in which the novel’s titular virus is spread through replication and mimetic duplication.

While I would never suggest lyricist Joe Casey drew inspiration from Stephenson’s novel, he certainly seemed attuned to similar observations that the Snow Crash writer made while composing his influential work. Both Casey and Stephenson display acuity in identifying the intertwining of technology, linguistics, and religion. For example, “Boyce or Boice” directly references Samuel Morse sending the first human communication through an electric device, a telegraph message which read: “What hath God wrought?” By quoting the book of numbers 23:23, Morse initiated electronic communication with a declaration of religious wonder and divine authority. Language, religion, virality. However, it is not just the recurrence of this motif that Stephenson’s book shares with Joe Casey’s lyrics, it is also that both display how often these are exploited for the accrual of power and dominance. It is not just that these concepts are inherently inseparable, but that others will manipulate and exploit these points as mechanisms of control.

The album art of The Agent Intellect features an image of Constantine, the first Roman Emperor to become baptized and who was instrumental in the rise of Christianity throughout Europe, and consequently, the world. During the rise of Fascism in Italy in the 20th century, the National Fascist Party used rhetoric that drew parallels between Constantine and Mussolini to legitimize the Duce’s ascendancy to power. After the signing of the Lateran Pacts by the Italian State and the Catholic Church, the archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Ildefonso Schuster, claimed that a second ‘religious pact’ had been established, echoing the Edict of Milan enacted by Emperor Constantine, which legalized Christianity in Rome and which led the state to transition into the theocratic power of the Holy Roman Empire. The Fascists were already in control, having political reign and control over the means of communication (one of the first acts of Mussolini’s was to take over state run media, both print and broadcast, ensuring no dissenting views could be expressed against the Party), but the Lateran Pacts ensured that the Fascists also gained legitimacy through the Church. All fronts of power were seized: language, religion, and virality.

The Agent Intellect offers many personal observations, reflections of Casey’s about personal traumas, the cynicism and disillusionment that comes from life’s myriad of failures. However, these are not brooding songs of self-pity. These are anthems of discovery, each song a small approximation of Plato’s Cave and the moment in which illusory order and meaning are revealed as no more than shadowplay. These epiphanies come in many forms: whether in witnessing a riot enacted by the self-proclaimed pious, the stymieing affects of gentrification, or in the observing the decline of a loved one with a terminal disease. The world depicted by Casey is not one falsely promising happiness, nor even a greater understanding of why the world is as it is. It might seem harsh, even tragic, but it does not feel false. The Agent Intellect is about pulling back the veils of illusion that lead one to blind complacency and obedience. This leaves the characters of these songs disillusioned in both senses: angry and saddened, yes, but also no longer under the thrall of the deceptive mechanisms of control that had governed their lives. There is truth in these songs, or perhaps more accurately, a valuing of truth beyond any comforts that could be offered by the false promises of materialism, capital, or religious dogmatism.

With all that said, let’s not aggrandize the scope of this record. No matter how powerful, thoughtful, or moving the songs of Protomartyr are, it is not enough to usurp the hold language, religion, and virality have over our lives. After all, what is pop music but an extension of these very concepts? The cult of personality, the idolatry of pop and rock stars, is synonymous with the primacy of the religious leader, the viral engineer, and the authority whom controls the means of communication. Yet, what Casey shows is something beyond using these means to control, but to scrutinize, to critique, to identify falsity. A rock band cannot not save us (does anyone really harbour such dated naive idealism anymore?). However, that band (or author, or poet, or filmmaker, or philosopher, etc.) may point us towards something, an idea or a concept that allows us to identify the exploitation governing our lives, the fictional world of replaceable ideals of comfort and satiation we inhabit, and challenge us. Will we meet that challenge or remain in the shadowplay?

In this podcast Adam and Dave talk with Joe Casey of Protomartyr about the making of The Agent Intellect, the lyrics to several of the songs on the album, making the album artwork, Visiting Windsor and Detroit growing up and more.

Protomartyr are currently touring in celebration of The Agent Intellect’s 10^th anniversary with a series of shows. There is also a vinyl only live album available called Pin Eyes Under the Alder from their website made up of live recordings from recorded at Pickathon in 2016.

On October 21^st, Raymond Biesigner released his book 9 Times My Work Has Been Ripped Off through Drawn & Quarterly. Known for being an illustrator and artist based in Montreal, Canada, he has an approach to his illustrations and art that is described as minimalist maximalist. It is very distinct. It hits you right away.

In his new book, he weaves nine stories for anyone in a creative field to know if they ever have to face the scenario of having your work either being stolen or used without permission. Throughout the book, he covers different artist sectors that he has worked in throughout his career and tells stories that are both anecdotal, humorous, witty and well, creative. In addition to this, Biesigner provides historical context and examples of things from the art world and also his personal life to show how to creatively deal with unfortunate situations such as this.

Throughout his 20 year career as an illustrator, Biesigner has worked with everyone from The New Yorker, the Globe & Mail, The Guardian, Fortune, GQ, Reuters, Sub Pop and The New York Times, to name a few. The depth of knowledge found in this book, can’t go unnoticed here. For example, he discusses the artist that came up with the logo for Nirvana or the rate illustrators used to make in the early 1900s compared to today. Biesigner’s love of history, which pops up in his art/illustrations, is also weaved through the book’s chapters. It adds more depth to the stories being told here.

I found out about Raymond’s art through his band The Famines. They were a two-piece group, originally based out of Edmonton when they started out in 2008. With song titles such as “Faux Famous,” “Got Lies If You Want Them,” “Free Love is A Sales Technique,” “The First World War,” and “Attack Machine Blues,” their music was both thought provoking and noisy. Their live show was also quite something to see and hear. Described as “an art cult noise garage duo,” they released several seven inches, an album collecting their singles and one full-length album titled Too Cool & Other Songs. All of them featured artwork by Biesigner. Just before they disbanded, The Famines began releasing what they called paper LPs. Basically, it was artwork printed on usually 20X30 newsprint and featured a download code to an album or songs. It could be framed as a piece of art once you downloaded the music, if you desired. I was torn to frame some of the artwork for these releases due to the fact that both sides usually had artwork on them. For some of the releases I did manage to acquire, they sit in special spot persevered in time.

The Famines released several compilations on a label they started called Pentagon Black, highlighting many underground/independent bands in the Canadian music scene, albums by other bands and ceased operations around 2021. You won’t find too much of The Famines stuff online nowadays. Unless you have a record they did or one of their paper LPs, it may be difficult to track down. It’s not on any of the streaming sites, but there are still some places to provide musical evidence out there, despite being elusive if you look hard enough. Perhaps one day their music will appear again. Perhaps not.

On his website fifteen.ca, Raymond Biesinger describes his work as this:

“You can think of much of my work as a collage that doesn’t look like a collage—pieces made from real-world lines, shapes, and textures scanned into a computer that’s used as an infinitely-forgiving Xerox machine, glue, and scissors. These “collaged” components lose their recognizability in the process, but through repetitive use bring flaws, eccentricities, and geometries that form a unique visual vocabulary.”

In 9 Times My Work Has Been Ripped Off, Biesinger collects pieces from real-world examples. Although this quote, refers to his illustrative output, it can apply here. The words found in this book provide a unique look into a world most people will never know or be a part of. For people that want to choose this path, it can provide insight. The stories in this book mend together past experiences, in a part instructional, part memoir, anecdotal, candid and cohesive way. This book can be described as a page turner. It can be an interesting read to anyone, not just artists or creators. Combined with some of his illustrations that showcase his distinct style, it is hard to put this book down once you start. Then when it’s done, you want to read more.

In this podcast, Dave and Adam discuss with him many things relating to the book and the art world, including the ongoing threat of AI.

Grab a copy of the book over at Drawn & Quarterly’s website:

https://drawnandquarterly.com/books/9-times-my-work-has-been-ripped-off/

Visit Raymond Biesigner’s website for his Illustrated work:

fifteen.ca

What Seas, What Shores is an instrumental post rock band from Windsor, Ontario. In advance of their 20th anniversary, sold out show at Meteor in Windsor, Dave & Adam talked with the band. The show also coincides with the 10th anniversary of their second full-length album, Spiritual Nap Machine. Speaking with all four members of the band Martin, Caleb, Colin and Kyle, they talk of touring in Japan, their early touring days, the song writing process, their formation, and more.

Find music from What Seas, What Shores at:

Socials:
Instagram
Facebook

Subscribe now