Week in Pop: Alpenglow, Arms & Sleepers, R. Stevie Moore

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Gang

Brighton's own Gang; photographed by Carina Kehlet.
Brighton’s own Gang; photographed by Carina Kehlet.

Performing alongside Baby In Vain at London’s Birthdays on October 18, and touring with WAND all throughout November; introduce yourself to Canterbury by Margate by Brighton’s Gang who shared a listen to their new 7″ available November 25 from Ra-Ra Rok Records with the slow simmering & flickering fire that is “Dead”. The brothers Eric & Jimi Tormey with family-friend Joseph Hunt operate on a DIY or die type of ethos that in turn enables them to turn the pages forward with massive & stirring sounds that could have been preserved from the headiest & heaviest unheard alt. 90s icons. Jimi illustrated the trio’s mission with the following:

To separate us is to conquer us, and unity is strength. For this reason we surround ourselves with like-minded, creative individuals, forming a community—Gang is a messiah, an illustrator, a photographer, a videographer. We are any and all who aid us. Each of us is branded with a Gang tattoo committing ourselves to unity. DIY, as we know it, is dead—RIP to D.I.Y—killed by vapid, lo-fi bedroom pop. We’ll D.I.O until we D.I.E.

Eric Tormey shared with us the following insights on the inspiration behind the new single “Dead”:

“Dead” was written following an epiphany of sorts. A cold, universal light leaked through my skull as I drowned in anxiety, showing me the insignificance of human struggle. We are self-aggrandizing bacteria on the surface of a rock floating in a huge, mostly empty space. Anything we do or think is inconsequential, and there is only one outcome. One day our earth will be gone, any trace of anything anyone has ever known will be gone. There will be no rights or wrongs, no alternate paths. All the glorious and tragic events of humanity will compress into one finite moment. At first this prospect terrified me. I lay quivering on the floor until the following morning, holding my mother’s hand while my father proclaimed that I had probably had some bad speed. As the days, weeks and months passed I developed a sense of clarity. I realized that to focus on what’s important in one’s life is all there is to do. Don’t be governed by petty desires that are thrust upon you. You don’t need wealth, or love, or sex, or fame, or recognition. Look inside yourself and see what it is you desire. Anything else is fool’s play.