art punk – Queen City Sounds and Art

Forever Factory’s Darkly Humorous and Surreal Post-Punk Single “Never Boring” Weighs the Options of Social Activities and Self-Isolating

Forever Factory, photo courtesy the artist

Forever Factory sounds like a long lost, experimental post-punk band from Scotland on the “Never Boring” single. It has a downcast and surreal energy that nevertheless draws you in. Its hypnotic beat is akin to something out of mid-80s The Fall and its gloomy guitar melody and spoken, almost whispered vocals have the intensity of a repeated mantra. The intro to the song going into the song proper brings to mind a bizarre mix of The Residents, Cabaret Voltaire and a minimalistic, spooky Viagra Boys. The lyrics sound like the words of a self-isolating person of misanthropic tendencies contemplating coming out of the comfortable confines of his own sanctum sanctorum because that’s what you’re supposed to do on a Saturday night even if you don’t really want to be in artificial social situations with the deep potential of dull interactions. Why bother when you can stay home where it’s, apparently, never boring. The song’s menace suggests a self-spiraling habit of isolating oneself and finding justifications for how not having at least some stimulation and human contact is not boring, “not if you have something to do it with.” The track is a rare modern post-punk song that doesn’t rely on trendy sounds and dares to go off the deep end into uncommon subject matter with honesty and a touch of dark humor. Listen to “Never Boring” on Spotify and follow Forever Factory at the links provided. Forever Factory’s debut EP Violence Is Everywhere But Not Here released March 27, 2026.

Forever Factory on Instagram

Genre Is Death Savage Inauthentic Aspirations on No Wave Punk Single “Attractive People”

Genre Is Death, photo courtesy the artists

On “Attractive People” Genre Is Death sound like they took a time machine back to 1980s New York (their hometown) and got to experience bands like Live Skull, early No Wave and Pussy Galore firsthand and shed obvious influences on their return to our era. What we hear is a caustic and noisy, haunting and thrilling song that weds mechanistic rhythms to discordant guitar and a hypnotically driving bass line to create a different kind of musical darkness with which the band shreds shallow aspirations and lifestyle over substantive living and creating. The lyrics are minimal, mostly “You don’t have a life/You just want to be attractive” and “It’s just a lifestyle” that can seem general but when combined with the music’s headiness and confrontational sound it speaks to anyone that recognizes certain social phenomena in the culture when there seem to be people who like the association of cool within a subculture or parasocial attachments without having to do anything to actually be so and live in a way that commits to something real which requires actual effort more than being attracted to the image of authenticity and accomplishment. Watch the video for “Attractive People” on YouTube and follow Genre Is Death at the links below. The band’s LP is out May 1, 2026 on In the Red Records.

Genre Is Death on Instagram

Genre Is Death on Bandcamp

La Sécurité’s Art Punk Single “Bingo” Satirizes the Way Life is Presented as a Game No One Can Really Win Under Late Capitalism

La Sécurité’s new single “Bingo” sounds like it got dropped out of the early 80s No Wave scene with strong, funk-adjacent bass lines and guitar that sounds as much like a textural tone as minimal riff. Keyboards have a quality like something out music for an old video game and the lyrics are delivered in short couplets to build a surreal impressionistic narrative. The words seem to utilize the seemingly random quality of the game Bingo and the disconnected quality of modern life and how it can be like a game you’re forced to play with distinct but arbitrary rules and in which few actually get to win as if winning could possibly be everything or fully satisfying for an actual, analog human being. But in the video directed by Philippe Beauséjour there is a refreshing use of images seemingly cut out and animated like a collage that both enhances the impression of disconnection and the visual aesthetics of another era. There is something undeniably fascinating and thrilling about the mix of styles and moods that makes the song immediately relistenable. Watch the video for “Bingo” on YouTube and follow La Sécurité’ at the links below. The band’s new album Bingo! will become available on June 11, 2026 for digital download and streaming with a vinyl pre-order that ships in December.