Fat White Family
Songs for Our Mothers

The first time I heard about this band, a few months ago, they had given an interview where they stated that they would go to Syria and join ISIS if poor Mac DeMarco didn't stop making music and retire from the scene. It wasn't clear afterward whether this statement was some kind of joke or not, since Mac DeMarco himself later claimed that the Fat White Family had asked him to share the stage with them. In any case, that's how I got to know this band and listened to their first album, 'Champagne Holocaust', which was released on Trashmouth in 2013 and which I found frankly surprisingly acidic and somehow psychedelic at the same time.

'Songs for Our Mothers', their new album (Fat Possum/Without Consent) comes out three years later and confirms what is the eccentric and radical approach of these musicians not only to their songs but to life in general. The album, after all, is provocative, outrageous, and in some way can be considered a real 'shock', in a sense continuing a typically British tradition within rock music from the late seventies to today. Beyond the sounds proposed by the group, it's impossible not to think of the punk movement and the Sex Pistols and, moving forward in time, to some typical attitudes of Oasis and later Babyshambles/Libertines.

Earlier, I mentioned acidic psychedelia, and this element is certainly present in this new album, although in truth defining the exact sound of Fat White Family is difficult. Meanwhile, the first question is, are we dealing with a band that is somehow tied to an underground scene, or are we instead talking about the usual indie next big thing from the UK? The question is valid. For instance, 'Satisfied', a dub and at the same time acidic ballad, was produced by Sean Lennon and recorded at Yoko Ono’s studios. I mean, these kinds of collaborations, if you're truly 'underground', are not something you can easily afford. Just practically speaking, I mean.

But this band has a dual nature. On one hand, they cite Primo Levi, are interested in what's happening in the world and politics, and collaborate with politically and socially engaged personalities and artists like Sean Lennon and Yoko Ono; on the other hand, their approach is definitely punk and arrogant. Like you listen to the album and immediately think, 'Wow, these guys don't give a damn about anything!' Which consequently makes you love or hate them depending on the situation.

The music and content of this album are apparently unpleasant. The sounds are at times difficult to comprehend and at other times naive as the songs of Daniel Johnston might appear ('When Shipman Decides'). Everything seems uncertain, and the tones are often dark, paying homage to a certain wave music. 'We Must Learn To Rise', 'Love Is the Crack' take on a theatrical approach that might remind you of the Residents or Bauhaus, though the sound of Fat White Family is certainly less furious and impetuous than that of Peter Murphy's band.

They are noisy, annoying, and repellent in the way someone might consider a collection of pornographic magazines repellent. I don't know if these are truly bad boys or not; it's fair to wonder if they are a bluff and if there is genius in their songs, and, that's certain, they are definitely not songs you would sing to your mom, but before all that, ask yourself why and ask yourself if and where the boundary lies between what is truly scandalous and outrageous and what isn't. Or more simply, maybe this boundary doesn't exist: there is no difference.