In the early 2000s, ‘Indie’ was branded as the new ‘Alternative,’ and once innovative genres became imitated until they sounded tiresome. With the rise of chillwave and folk in recent years, some critics complain that a lot of the ‘indie’ bands around today are too soft. The visceral sound of the godfathers of independent music, they say, has gone out of style. While NYC’s Pop 1280 may take that raw sound, which borders on metal, to another level, their music revels in an industrial, ‘pigfuck’ of chaos, evoking earlier NY noise and no wave outfits. With songs more concerned about murder than love, they provide a cathartic release from the cliched indie aesthetic, a sound that feels invigorating in its recklessness.
The band released the album ‘The Horror’ under Sacred Bones last year, and will be performing at 285 Kent this Sunday June 16 – the perfect day for a satanic celebration of the beginning of another disgustingly hot NYC summer (also known as… ‘The Horror’). – Jack McGovern