Bay Area angular arty post punk artist, Surplus 1980, returns from the rubble of the pandemic with a release for 2022, their first since 2019. They released a two-track single of an exclusive A-Side song that features to vocal talents of G.W. Sok, best known as the former singer of the adventurous anarcho Dutch band, the Ex (and currently on a continuum of Europeans and English acts he has lend vocals to including King Champion Sounds, Action Beat, Oiseaux-Tempête, and countless others). Here, Sok has lent another rant, this one against the 2022 invasion on Ukraine, spewing intelligent wordplay against the Russian President (playfully labeling him as “A Dull Fiddler” against the lyrical imagery of him as Nero playing against a fire brigade while the damage has already been made). The result is a fast-paced continuous transforming musical bombarding backdrop matching Sok’s wordy energy.
The AA-Side (i.e. B-Side) of the 7” release is a dub remix of one song, “Some Few Facts (And One False One) About Birds,” that is a forthcoming inclusion on their upcoming full-length album, Illusion of Consistency, their first release since 2019’s third album, Pigeon Obstacle Course.
The 7” single, with its half blue/half yellow colored vinyl to emulate the Ukrainian flag, will be a benefit single with proceeds of sales going toward helping animals displaced by Russia’s war in Ukraine, housed in a stamped sleeves (with the Ukrainian colors cancelling Putin’s face) with a vellum over sleeve with customized stamped sleeve, complete with a Ukrainian postage stamp sealing the cover shut.
