“My father had a heart like a hummingbird
Wrapped in a porcelain ribcage
And on the day his tiny motor stopped generating forces
I fell deep into a battle with the Titans and the Trojans”
Notre Noise is a mystery, encapsulated in brainwashing, smothered in Snapchat filters. The enigmatic band’s debut single and video for “Attention Shoppers” is out now. With sonic nods to Love & Rockets, IDLES, Gang of Four, Devo, LCD Soundsystem, and the political stylings of Bowie, Heaven 17, and Blancmange, the band gleefully dissects – literally – the poisons of the quest for fame.
The video, starring Barbie, Ken, and assorted plastic friends, explores themes of anxiety and tribalism brought on by social media, Big Tech surveillance, and censorship. Brainwashing, soul stealing and public pillories all play into the video as each doll succumbs to digital lobotomies, target practice, and blank-staring submission. It’s a brutally clever and cheekily graphic satire of modern life in the public eye, the first of a series about to be rolled out in the coming months.
Watch the video below:
This song hits hardest when considering the tragedy of Gabby Petito. The young “van life” influencer disguised her personal misery with cheerful Instagram captions and chipper YouTube videos, until her dirty laundry and eventual murder were endlessly broadcast over social media via TikTok true crime enthusiasts unsuccessfully racing to save her. Likewise, social media conspiracy theorists uprooted the quiet life of Sabrina Prater, who became an unwitting TikTok scapegoat in the wake of overeager attention seekers hoping to break a salacious story that never existed.
These already troublesome incidents also managed to generate millions of views, likes, comments, and – ultimately – dollars for the corporations funding these social media platforms. What will this mean to society writ large as real human dramas become sources of three minutes of entertainment? Will news only matter when the Blue-Checked Chosen Ones take up the cause?
Attention Shoppers takes these very pressing concerns seriously, providing articulate, danceable social commentary.
Listen below:
The band has, unsurprisingly, avoided a social media presence, but they do have an Instagram account and you can stream the track on Spotify.
