Lost in a dream…
An empty, desolate desert does not seem so foreign these days. From the isolation and subsequent loneliness caused by the virus, the vastness of the Mojave Desert—the sun blaring, cacti protruding through the dust, the endless stretch of highway—is inviting. Deaf Dance’s debut video for “The Garbage Humans” from their EP fraudcast, that was released on Valentine’s Day this year, matches the intense melancholy synths found in the song. Awash in an unmistakable sadness, the video is shot largely in black and white with moments of a startling blue sky. Deaf Dance are shown far away from life, far from “garbage” humans and their toxicity. Watch below:
The duo formed Deaf Dance in Los Angeles during the summer of 2017 with frontman Jerry Narrows, soon joined by keyboardist Jessica Caro of Doll Klaw in 2018. Narrows left the city and relocated to the desert in 2020 “to be closer to the crows”—and fraudcast is the product of that. Overall, the EP is a danceable, downcast collection of tracks that mix guitars with chilly synths that recall the early Mute Records catalog as well as a hint of jangle and shoegaze influences from the 1990s.
“[It was recorded] largely during the 2020 End of Days pandemic that hit us all like a ton of bricks,” says Narrows. “It’s 6 songs of sand-covered synth-pop, touching on themes such as modern misinformation tactics , rampant modern-world interpersonal moral decay and BDSM as tension relief and therapy.” Now that is something we can all relate to.
fraudcast is out now via the Tarantula Pop label. Listen to the EP below via Bandcamp.