Opening Bell

Being a symbolic gesture of globalized commerce rather than a functional indicator of the start of a day's trading, Wall Street's opening bell now acts as a signifier of a bygone era, one that was less of a total mindfuck. In effect, it is a cop out resorting to nostalgia and performativity. Opening Bell, on the other hand, accepts the truth-or-dare proposition of modern relevancy and meets this challenge head on by drawing upon and amalgamating a disparate array of influences, reaching into the back of their slimy craniums to create something singular and unprecedented. Crumbling walls of guitar meet a subterranean clangor of warped sounds on the way to the gutter, all the while being propelled by a rhythmic current as the drums take a swan dive into the cavernous darkness and blast things to pieces. This is music that looks at our uniquely fucked age square in the eye and demands answers."

- Butternut Johnson, as told to Eamon Tewell, 2013

New York, NY