Edinburgh four-piece Usual Affairs are back with their new single ‘Suppressant Crescent’. It follows the clarion call ‘Elementary to Penitentiary’ and an angelic search for ‘Wonderland (Same Old Story). Banner image courtesy Redwood Streets.
Image & artwork courtesy of the band.
Roaring to life with killer basslines worthy of The Reytons and early Reverend & The Makers, they set a curse fraught with danger. Themes of addiction spiralling out of control arise as
Jack Cordey guitar solo transcends music. His artful reflection of life pressures burrowing its talons into the soul resembles a downtempo ‘Bring It On Down’. It forges a breed of despair mired in fog with seemingly no way out.
Whilst the sonic pulls from various great guitar eras, forging its heavyweight path are the lyrics. This is a social commentary of the highest order. Laying bare the initial innocence of drug taking for a weekend release (“The week is finished and Rudi says / I’m up for gettin' off my head”) soon descends into the brutality of it all:
“High end knock offs and trefoils / Another head bounced off the soil”
Kids not thinking (“This place has no accreditation / Brain cells killed for the duration / Girls take snaps for their reputation / Boys take drugs for the cavitation”) are given a stark warning:
“You’ve got work in an hour n a half / And the gin is fresh on yer scarf / Does your weekend hide the cracks / Dead end job and a beaten track”
The finest social comment of 2023!