In a time of panic and confusion, Australia’s Violent Soho are keeping things simple with their latest release, Everything is A-OK.
One of the great misconceptions about songwriting is that keeping things vague is good for business. Listeners indeed love the material that they relate to, but musicians should never sacrifice honesty in hopes of making their art more accessible. The best artists are the ones who speak the truth of their souls in a plain manner that tells people who they are as only their voice can. That is the stuff that makes music something more than noise moving through the air, and few in the business are as good as keeping things simple as Violent Soho.
There is virtually no barrier to entry for people wanting to know or enjoy Violent Soho. The Australian punk band built their career on honest, straightforward songwriting that celebrates the minutia of modern life. They sing about jobs, family, friends, and the struggle to make something of yourself as plainly as possible. It’s no-frills music fill with thrills created by the delivery of each line and the unpredictable, driving sound the band creates. There is nothing like Violent Soho to be found anywhere else on the planet, yet every song feels more relatable than the one that came before.
Take “Pick It Up Again,” for example. In just over three minutes, the band delivers a soundtrack for ignoring expectations and pushing forward with your creative vision regardless of any pressure to conform that exists. They also recognize that living that way is rarely easy and never practical, so they encourage listeners to keep going, even when things fall apart. Pick up where you left off and move forward. Recover from the setbacks and press onward. Accept that you cannot change the opinions of others, but also understand that those opinions don’t matter. Do what you want, no matter what. That’s the motto of Violent Soho.
Everything Is A-OK also embraces the strangeness of the modern age. The band sacrifices the potential for timeless songs by writing about the present directly. Maybe we won’t be using cell phones in the future or struggling with the things currently giving us anxiety, but maybe we will. We may also be dead. Violent Soho has problems right now, and the music they create speaks to those experiences by addressing the way things are rather than how they wish they were. That kind of honesty may be too much for some, but for others, it’s exactly what they need.
There is no telling whether or not the rock and punk communities will embrace Violent Soho’s latest in such a way that the band is elevated throughout the industry hierarchy. What is clear, however, is that those who get what the band is doing will have a soundtrack to living in an age of confusion that doesn’t neglect harsh truths in favor of impossible realities. Violent Soho is focusing on surviving right now, and honestly, artists everywhere can benefit from following their lead.
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