We’ve teamed up with avant-garde rock group Sex BBQ to bring you the exclusive song premiere of “Powerlines Pt. 2”, which comes from the groups upcoming album Sex Noir City. Not only can you listen to the song below but you’re also able to download it for free! Just click on the ‘Download’ button in the Soundcloud player.
The track is incredibly mysterious and is the second of two tracks on the album to feature vocals by keyboardist Laura Palmer, who I hope isn’t wrapped in plastic. It’s a very sexy, coy track that builds in intensity yet never erupts, sinuously weaving its discordant and dissonant melodies into something alluring and fascinating. It feels like something one would hear in a smoky bar in the 30’s, the singer dressed in a sparkling red sequin dress and illuminated by a single spotlight, the band hidden in shadows behind her.
Lyrically, the song is incredibly dark and morbid, telling tales of murder, violence, and pain. Member Steve Albertson goes into detail below.
Sex Noir City comes out August 28th via Muckman Records. You can pre-order the album via Bandcamp.
Steve Albertson explains “Powerline Pt. 2” in great detail:
“Powerlines Pt. 2” is a reworking of the original “Powerlines Pt. 1.” It strips the psychedelic circus feel of Pt. 1 down to a theatrical creepshow of violence and apprehension. Lyrically, the song is about growing up in my hometown of Waukegan, Ill., and the people who didn’t make it out as unscathed as I did—people who were caught up in gangbanging mayhem, one who killed another kid with a hammer, another who cut someone’s throat at a quinceañera while he was on the run from the cops who’d raided his house for selling guns. We were skaters, punks and thugs. There were a lot of random fights. One day while we were skating, a brawl broke out between random gangs—our friends, and not our friends—and at the end of it, one of the guys on our side had his head ripped open after getting beaten with a garbage can. Things like this happened on a regular basis.
Waukegan is about 45 minutes north of Chicago on Lake Michigan. It’s right next to Great Lakes Naval base, where every Navy recruit has to go at some point, and they’re told specifically not to visit Waukegan because it’s too dangerous. It’s the birthplace of Jack Benny & Ray Bradbury, and its gangster shit is different from Chicago. Instead of having your few blocks, you’ve got these roving groups that go looking for violence against the other guys almost just because. There’s a culture of gangbanging that is passed down from older relatives, friends and even parents. I remember playing “violation” as a little kid, taking turns play-beating each other for breaking gang rules. As I grew up, I avoided as much gang stuff as I could, but a lot of my childhood friends went full in.
The idea of the powerlines comes from the fact that there’s a power plant on the lake, and the powerlines stretch from there all the way through the center of town. I lived right next to this long stretch, and I’d always imagine a long line of Jesuses hanging from each post all the way down the line. And as I got older, I always felt the city was damned. I moved to Chicago right after high school and never looked back. The town and my friends who still live there are deep in my heart, but I won’t ever move back.
“Powerlines Pt. 2” I think captures this bittersweet feeling better than Pt. 1, especially with Laura’s powerful voice and the dramatic piano parts. SEX BBQ has always been a band where everyone is given a chance to contribute equally, and that’s how Pt. 2 came about. It works as a reprise of—and an ending to—the suite. Pt. 1’s music is almost celebratory, while Pt. 2 is more of a descent into hell. The original had lines like, “prison walls are painted with these dark saints’ willing blood,” as a nearly literal take on my friends who have gone to jail for a long time for some brutal crimes. Whereas Pt. 2 takes a more metaphorical, literary approach focusing on the descent of Dante’s Inferno, and the alluring yet deadly gazes of Cleopatra and Medusa.
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Banner photo credit: T.O. Lawrence