New Orleans’ based Special Interest have returned with their second LP The Passion Of… today on Juneteenth. The band’s unique blend of no wave and synthpunk has the impromptu grit of the Birthday Party and Teenage Jesus and the Jerks with the downtown glam of The New York Dolls. But they are no throwback band—they’ve incorporated techno kicks and electronic elements that set them firmly into the present with the dizzying drama of tracks such as “Disco III”. Alli Logout’s vocals are ferocious, “offering moments of clarity and hope in their signature bratty maladjusted manner, switching from high camp satire to insightful political imperatives often within the course of one song.”
The intensity of The Passion Of… is a breath of fresh air, offering a unceremonious offering of in-your-face fuzz, wails, and crashes. It “is a true document of Special Interest as the intense and radical unit they are”—and it shows. You can support the band by purchasing the album below.
Please support Black artists today and every day. Bandcamp has made an easy, crowd-sourced list here.
