Blone Noble is the nom de plume of Los Angeles songwriter, Pat Salway. Channeling the synth-heavy sounds of late 70s Berlin, Salway channels piano-pounding glam rock fused with new wave – a genre he calls “doomsday disco” – penning fitting anthems for the desperate and paranoid times in which we live.
“Weapon Of Love,” out now via Curation Records, vocally touches upon Giorgio Moroder’s version of “Nights In White Satin.” There’s a swagger in his hips, a sneer on his lips, and an acerbic bite to his satirical lyrics, bringing to mind Sparks, Frank Tovey, Roxy Music, Heaven 17, and of course Station To Station-era David Bowie. The Cold War is alive and well in this Iron Curtain-era sound – this is a love song for a pandemic-stricken dystopia. Stop worrying and love the bomb, whatever form it takes – for death always brings rebirth. 1970s Berlin could just as easily be 2020s America these days – and there’s always a wall to tear down, be it love or be it war.
With the onslaught of 80s VHS-style videos floating around out there, this Fred Joseph (for Expo Aktuell Films) gem really does look like it’s a 40-year-old Top of the Pops broadcast. The film style, with its strange closeups, three-camera system, and simple edits is unnervingly accurate to the time. The retrofuturism of decades past rehashes itself with the same old crises in different wrapping paper.
Watch the video for “Weapon Of Love” below:
You can also listen to “Weapon of Love” here.
Salway began recording as Blone Noble in 2021 alongside his wife Marlena on bass and Brendan Peleo-Lazar on drums. The trio cut basic tracks live at Figment Sounds in Toluca Lake with Rob Campanella (Brian Jonestown Massacre) engineering and co-producing. Synth overdubs were recorded between Figment Sounds and Blone’s Hollywood Hills home (and former Theosophy temple library) Krotona of Old Hollywood.
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