Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The drug of choice takes many forms, and we should learn to show sympathy, if not a little admiration, to those who seek their way out of the curse it brings, not only to themselves but to those around them. Addiction takes many forms, some could be considered beneficial but for the many who practise daily their obsession, their craving, then their downfall can be assured, played out in private, given airtime accompanied by constant download of pictures, the streaming of every detail of their lives. It can then be hardly be surprising that a Facebook Loser stumbles on the tones of others and sees themselves in the mirror.
We have all been there in the modern age, the pull of social media perhaps making up for the lack of contact we feel, the disconnection we are subjected to in an era of dependence and need to be part of something bigger than ourselves and yet we all know that one person who will see such a person and place their own insecurities and demands onto them; a two-fold problem, the social media devil spreading its wings into both their lives, the sad and the angry all framing what the invisible need feeds upon.
To capture both sides of the story takes guts, stamina to withstand the inevitable fall out but for Peter And The Test Tube Babies, such niceties are to be dismissed, the full throttle Punk assault is refreshing and whilst we must never be seen to be cruel, that is not the message the band are shouting from the rooftops. Instead, it has the edge of cunning, of purity, asking fans, the ones they don’t know to look up from the screens and see what is happening to the world, the destruction, lies and deceit being wrought whilst we feed our addiction to likes and thumbs up from people that wouldn’t give us the time of day otherwise.
The point of Punk is not just to shock, that after all is a side show, the make- up covering the true face of the aggression needed to change the world; Facebook Loser is another of those songs that stick to the truth of the genre, and its in your face belief to get people to understand that the reality they feel safe in, is but an illusion created by filters and addiction.
Peter And The Test Tube Babies will be releasing their new album, FUCTIFANO, on March 6th.
Ian D. Hall