Beautiful, cursed angel the last time I saw you was at the gate to hell
If this is endurance then it might be just as sweet as the reward
Like serpents seductively working their way through the underbelly of the Big Apple, where artistic brilliance is as ubiquitous as the city’s iconic skyline, CG8 has risen. They bring with them the unapologetic spirit of vintage post-punk, echoing a time when music was as gritty as Alphabet City. This powerhouse femme foursome hasn’t merely graced the music world — they’ve shattered expectations, creating ripples in a sometimes stagnant pond. With a sound that pulsates with an unbridled urge to challenge the status quo, CG8 is a breath of fresh, rebellious air in a scene that can often be resistant to evolution. Compromise isn’t in their vocabulary; they’re here to revolutionize.
The track intriguingly diverges from CG8’s usual choral narratives. It teases with the harmonious whispers reminiscent of a 60s girl group before diving into chaos, resonating in spectral reverberations. The song distinctly embodies the eerie feeling of mental confinement experienced in an altered mental state, successfully encapsulating and portraying this disquieting sensation.
“It’s about feeling like you’re slipping out of reality; it’s uncontrollable and sometimes you can’t contain it,” says the band. “If you don’t fight it, the outcome can be positive.“
Their latest offering to the gods of rock ‘n’ roll, a video for “cursed angel,” delves even deeper, invoking a frenetic frolic on the edges of madness. Lida Fox, Veronika Vilim, Chase Lombardo, and Avishag Rodrigues do not disappoint in their discordant dance with derangement. In fact, they’ve taken this danse macabre straight to the mountains in the fascinating new video directed by Peter Kaaden.
In a provocative blend of reverence and rebellion, the video kicks off with the quartet clad in pristine Catholic school uniforms, poised in a chapel’s solemn embrace. But as the reel unfolds, the sanctity of the scene gives way to a raw, primal transformation. Venturing deep into the mystical mountain’s embrace, the tableau shifts from piety to paganism, as the girls engage in a mud dance that feels like an ancient rite reawakened.
This descent into untamed spiritualism is juxtaposed with surreal, trippy animations – lambs, often symbolizing innocence, and alter ego avatars, suggesting deeper, perhaps darker, layers of self. The visual odyssey is a wild ride, daring its viewers to journey between two worlds, from structured religion to uninhibited nature, challenging our perceptions of conformity and wild abandon.
Watch the video for “Cursed Angel” below:
The origins of phantasea pharm was born out of an obsession with Ella Fitzgerald’s rendition of “Old McDonald” ahead of a show in Charlottesville, Virginia. The band decided to pay homage with their own absurdist spin. Vilim dressed up in a cow leotard with pig accessories, Lombardo in a g-string and apron that read “The Grillfather,” Rodrigues became a lawn mower, and Fox took on the role of a sexy rooster. “We went on stage that night and told everyone we were a ‘Fantasy Farm.’” They knew then that would become the basis of their new EP.
The myriad influences coloring their musical palette are as diverse as their sound, with a blend of Peaches, the ethereal Cocteau Twins, grunge-pop pioneers Garbage, Suicide, the B-52s, and Madonna.
phantasea pharm follows last year’s standalone single “dumb *****” and the EP’s cumgirl8 (2020) and RIPcumgirl8 (2021) and arrives in the midst of their headlining EU/UK tour and festival run that has seen them play Primavera, The Great Escape, London Calling, and more.
The album is out on the 18th of August via 4AD.
Tour Dates:
- 8/18 – Wales, UK @ Greenman Festival
- 8/19 – Glasgow, SC @ Core Festival
- 8/21 – London, UK @ Rough Trade East (signing + performance)
- 8/26 – Utrecht, NL @ Loose Ends Festival
- 8/30 – Berlin, DE @ Popkultur Festival
- 8/31 – Berlin, DE @ Sameheads (DJ set)
- 11/10 – 11/11 – Paris, FR @ Pitchfork Paris
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