Sticky Antlers
Pretoria, to me at least, generally seems like something of a cultural wasteland, where derivative white man’s 12 bar blues seems to have a particular resonance. Yet, in these seemingly adverse conditions, a small, insular yet wonderfully self-sufficient and inexhaustibly creative group of individuals are creating music, mad collage art and video under the banner of ‘The KRNGY logo’. The label’s output covers a vast range of solo and collaborative projects such as Suicycle, The Vulva Underground, Unicorn Rizla and, um, Immaculate Afterbirth. The label’s ‘flagship’ act, or rather, most active and prominent exponent, is the band Sticky Antlers, consisting of A. Computer, Le Muerte, Damon and Amino, who have recently made available their first, self-titled full length, and, damn, it’s like a cattleprod to the nether regions.
I first got to know these amazing individuals through their band ‘If You Are What You Eat Then I Can Be You By Tomorrow’, a more metal/industrial orientated project (i mean this in the Melvins sense, of course, not in the baggy pants/flawless goatee skate metal sense) which was characterised by a gleeful misanthopy and antagonism. As good as that was, it’s heartening to see that with Sticky Antlers, they are putting a new emphasis on giving it some swing – as if their outsider status is something empowering, something to rub into the nose of their stodgy surroundings rather than sulk about; the track ‘Blind Horse’ is practically disco. Let there be no illusions, there is still blistering noise, deranged screaming and a preoccupation with taboo throughout, but these now become ecstatic signifiers rather than agonized ones.
If you’re in Johannesburg area on the 13th, you can catch them live at the launch of the new Pavement Special CD (which you can see more about here), and i suggest you do, because you can tell, by the long list of obscure influences on their fan page, by the care they put into every aspect of their packaging, and of course by the raw intensity of their music, that they are, in fact, the real thing.
They are too good, too good! Can’t wait to see them playing on Saturday night.
“Man-hating, bra-burning, dungaree-wearer who would rather die than let a lipstick touch her lips…”
The identity politics that characterized the gay and lesbian movement of the ‘70s, ’80s and ’90s may be firmly passé for today’s under-24 set, but that doesn’t mean this generation isn’t tangled up in its new permutations. The Vulva Underground is a post-post-modern queer collective that fuses feminist theory and radical chic ideology with a backbeat. “I like to dyke” never sounded this refreshing! Come out!
- Patti Castor
Hi everybody (in very best Dr. Nick impersonation)
Thanks for the incredibly kind words!
I thought the Vulva Underground were more into modern lamp ost design than gender role reversal?