Divorce Finance release new single ‘You Can’t Say Whore on the Radio’
After a period away, undertaking a purge amongst the ranks, and refining their sound, Leeds psychobilly outfit Divorce Finance has returned. It’s fitting that the band have supplied the menacing new single ‘You Can’t Say Whore on the Radio’ – another track underpinned by figurehead Mr Discipline’s searing social commentary – as the world has taken a dismal turn this week, with us taking a further cheerful step towards mutually assured destruction.
The band’s last release was 2023’s Live from the Bunker EP, one of the most compelling bodies of works that arrived during our previous lap around the sun. They’ve built on the foundations of the record and its predecessor ‘Django’ – which sagaciously called out Dave Grohl – with their new single. In the song, Discipline is fantastic, from his somewhat Peter Murphy-evoking, reverb-drenched baritone to the lyrics, which eviscerate the bigoted, racist, and generally hypocritical society we live in.
Do not be offended by the lyrics. Sat atop this slow-grooving, slimy take on psychobilly, which boasts another evil riff that sounds eerily like a classic ditty from the epoch of empire, just rendered through the band’s warped prism, the words lead the song’s directive. They rank among some of the best and most cut-throat undoings of the hypocritical contemporary society, as the band leader guts online racists, war criminals acting with impunity, the Nazi links of the Azov battalion, and many everyday Britons’s heinous view of asylum seekers and refugees.
Add this to a tight band, fully musically and philosophically aligned, and a scuzzy DIY mix that heightens the righteous hatred, and you’re in for a treat. You’d be hard-pressed to find a group as singular on the British Isles right now or one that is as substantial, for that matter.
While their music might offend some hasty listeners due to the face-value meaning of their words, if you look a little deeper and pay attention, two vital natural abilities we are gradually relinquishing in the internet age, where echo chambers reign supreme, Divorce Finance are doing us a favour.
Undeterred by previous efforts not being played on the radio due to their themes, in this era where personal autonomy is willfully eroded, moments such as ‘You Can’t Say Whore on the Radio’, provide a welcome head wobble. One thing is clear: Divorce Finance don’t want to be a part of this malaise. Neither do I!
Upcoming Divorce Finance shows:
- London: The New Cross Inn, November 22nd with Yowl, Sulk and Y
- Hull: The New Adelphi Club, November 27th with Nothingheads and Bug Facer
- Manchester: Gullivers, November 30th with Imperial Wax, Threads, Brenda and Walter Mitty’s Head
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