The Pop Group
Honeymoon on Mars
Freaks R Us
The world’s a mess. You know it and the Pop Group are here to provide the soundtrack to your dystopian nightmares. Mark Stewart’s tortured vocals lay out a world run by psychopaths and a parasitic capitalism infects everyone. The soundscapes these nightmares inhabit grind out fractured rhythms curated by dub master Dennis Bovell (the Slits, New Age Steppers) and Hank Shocklee (Public Enemy).
Occasionally, the Pop Group breaks through the anomie to dance to the apocalypse, as on “Zipperface”. It’s a futile effort to buy some time, to gain a little breathing room. On “Days Like These”, however, the agony metastasizes and Stewart scream while the rhythms slowly grind like worn out breaks tearing up the rotors. Freedom is an elusive thing. “Heaven?” is just another Ponzi scheme. Yes, the world is a mess and it’s a one-way trip to Mars.
