Austin-based punk rockers BLXPLTN have unleashed their powerful new single ‘Education Destruction.’ The first offering from their forthcoming third album, the politically-charged new cut dropped on 27th October via the band’s own label Wolfshield Records.
Known for their in-your-face punk industrial sound, BLXPLTN tears apart influences as diverse as electro, hip hop, hardcore, and industrial. Described by the FADER as “[mustering] up that sort of working-stiff punk vibe that… makes you feel like punching someone in the face.” “BLXPLTN makes us want to rage,” declares the trendsetting magazine. A combination of organic and synthetic elements, blending overdriven bass, pounding drums, blaring vocals, and scathing synth, the band has been cited as channeling Death Grips, Bad Brains, Beastie Boys and Ministry.
Exploring themes of class inequality and the connection between illiteracy and criminality, ‘Education Destruction’ lyrics focus on singer TaSzlin Muerte personal struggle within the system, decrying the misinformation forced upon the laypeople by the wealthy upper-class. The compelling visuals accompanying the single see a disenchanted Muerte “Puts on his special glasses” with bandmates Jonathan Horstmann and Jeremy Kivett, eventually including a host of friends who begin to see clearly the subliminal mind-control in the advertising surrounding them. The band also has an insight into fictional politician Rich Dobney (played by Jason Reece of …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, reprising the role from their 2012 track ‘Catatonic’) for what he truly is, a bizarre alien creature a la John Carpenter’s film ‘They Live’, popularized recently by Shepard Fairey of OBEYGIANT fame. The video perfectly balances these heavy overtones with a fun party scene full of vibrant, interesting characters.
Following up on critically acclaimed albums, the 2014 debut Black Cop Down produced by … And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead’s Autry Fulbright and Ringo Deathstarr’s Elliott Frazier, with early tracking by late Ikey Owens, the legendary keyboardist for Jack White’s touring band and Mars Volta. With their anticipated sophomore record, ‘New York Fascist Week’ – also produced by Fulbright and Frazier and released last year to rave reviews – the band gained the international recognition they deserve, becomingRed Bull Sound Select artists and playing groundbreaking Afropunk Festival in Brooklyn in both 2014 and 2016, alongside heavy-hitters like Janelle Monae, Bad Brains and Tyler, The Creator.
Born from the creative forces of drummer and vocalist TaSzlin Muerte, guitarist, singer and synth player Jonathan Horstmann, with the recent addition of drummer Jeremy Kivett, the radical multi-instrumentalists continue to champion social justice for people of colour, the LGBTQ community, women, immigrants, and the generally disenfranchised, forgotten members of society. BLXPLTN’s empowering message is a punch in the face of the punk rebellion that – as many aspects of pop culture – has seen its historical image whitewashed. Tearing apart the stereotypes attached to racial and gender identity, the trio gives voice to a myriad of unheard perspectives. Every revolution needs a soundtrack – and with ‘Education Destruction’BLXPLTN are sparking a seismic shift in the culture of their nation.
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