Chicago’s Kaput takes on the tensions between fandom and fame and the demands and expectations that exist mutually in the dark, post-punk song “High Wire.” The synths glisten ominously as percussion thuds splays with a seeming finality and the driving bass pairs with the electronic melody while Nadia Garofalo sings with what might be described as tense resignation. The chorus of “Caution is boring/We came for blood/If you tell me no one’s watching/Was it even worth your time” and later in the song with urgency “Give us everything, everything you’ve got” Garofalo swimming in the rhythmic cacophony and clatter at the end of the song captures the perverse and often toxic dependency of a certain way artists are encouraged to seek out attention at all times while their audience is conditioned to expect more and more with greater cost to the artist psychically and personally. It’s a way of things that has really extended to all areas of our lives to varying degrees as the barrier between ourselves and the commodification of our time and identity channeled into social media and the tendrils jobs and other realms of the economy get their grips into more of your time until you feel like you have nothing left because everything given isn’t enough. It is indeed as the song title suggests, a precarious balance with the potential to end badly. Kaput’s song dramatizes something that many of us feel in everyday life to varying degrees in music that’s harrowing, nightmarish and in the end cathartic. Listen to “High Wire” on Spotify and follow Kaput at the links below. Expect the debut album from Garofalo (ex-Ganser) and Brian Fox (Electrical Audio studio) in early 2025.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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