Released alongside the announcement of a upcoming EP ‘Apathy Mixtape’ Dutch Criminal Record offer another taste of their delectable and vibrant indie prowess on ‘Oat Milk’.
Stepping into a more murky and intense approach with a wall of punching drums, modulation and reverb soaked guitars, subtle synths and distorted, yet light and melancholy tinted vocals, the band balance a fresh post-punk approach with their stylistic and instantly recognisable upbeat indie-pop melodies and glimmering musicality to great effect. As ‘Oat Milk’ dances gleefully through it’s twinkling guitar riffs and uplifting ear-worm chorus, subtle vocal delays, it builds towards an unexpected and brilliant for-filling guitar solo before climaxing on a jubilant final chorus, closing with some excellently placed field recordings of a busy town.
Once again showcasing the bands ability as songwriters, the track does a brilliant job of delivering a euphoric indie soundscape whilst hiding a deeper, yearning undertone in the lyrics and vocals as the band thematically take a satirical stab at UK politics and the band explain:
“The lyrics of the song are actually based around something Suella Braverman said in the house of commons around October last year when I was writing the song. She blamed the just stop oil protests which were happening at the time on Labour and the SMP calling them the ‘Guardian reading, tofu eating wokerati’.
Obviously, it’s a ridiculous thing to hear in British politics and something that wouldn’t sound out of place in a speech by Trump. With the lyrics I tried to satirise this idea that the societal decay we’re experiencing in the UK right now is due to dairy alternatives, vegan food and pronouns rather than decades of neoliberalism by imagining that Tory politicians are going round London wincing every time they see a Linda McCartney sausage, obviously they aren’t. In the studio I tried to work on the vocal delivery to sound as bored, weary and apathetic as possible. When we where tracking the vocal initially I was singing brought and enthusiastically as possible but it just didn’t sound right so I went for a more subdued and indifferent tone as I think that reflects how lots of us feel when we hear this kind of overused sloganism in politics which is an easy way for politicians to avoid addressing issues and rial up their voter base.”
‘Oat Milk’ is out now via AntiFragile Music. Keep an eye on DCR for more updates on their upcoming EP.
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