Australian Post-Punk Upstarts Sounds Like Winter Question Unkept Promises at “The Wedding Feast”

Sydney, Australia’s “Antipodean post-punk upstarts,” Sounds Like Winter, unveil the new video for ‘The Wedding Feast’. ‘The Wedding Feast’ is the second video to be released from the band’s latest album, Fight the Stairs.

“We drew influence from Upton Sinclair’s classic Gilded Age novel The Jungle, says the band.  For those who have not read The Jungle, the feast in question deals with wedding guests’ unkept promises to financially support a newly-married couple, and the Sisyphean task of attaining the fairy tale of the American Dream for the impoverished.  Jurgis, the protagonist, attempts to accept responsibility by declaring, “I will work harder.” The betrayal of their culture’s expectations sets the scene for the cloud of tragedy that hovers over them for the rest of the novel.

“It feels especially relevant and contemporary now that inequality has exceeded even that era of unchecked robber barons. It explores both exploitation and drudgery, as well as the lengths we will go to in chasing even momentary escape. Musically we wanted something propulsive that combines that sense of tension and release. A dance of death, if you will.”

Sounds Like Winter, which formed in 2013, would go on to blaze a trail of increasing confidence and originality, bringing a contemporary voice to the classic post-punk formula.  They have forged their own identity, relevant to the present day, commenting on the inherent absurdity of modern life. Citing “tight black jeans” and 1982 as key influences, their sound remains firmly entrenched in the 1979-83 era of deathrock, dark punk, and proto goth. Loping bass and scything guitars are ferried atop a dervish of neo-tribal drums, drawing comparisons to Joy Division, The Birthday Party, Bauhaus, Christian Death, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Sex Gang Children.

The video is comprised of live footage filmed by Bill Eadie and crew at Sydney Underground Streaming Sessions (SUSS), Moshpit TV, Michaela Russell, Bill O’Dowd, and Sounds Like Winter.

Fight the Stairs is Sounds Like Winter’s third studio album since 2016’s Initiate.  The album was recorded live in the studio with minimal overdubs, and musically, ‘The Wedding Feast’ stands out as a prime example of the band having successfully harnessed that dynamic.

Fight the Stairs is available on vinyl LP from Gigstream, and in CD and digital formats from Bandcamp.