“Year of the Fat Man” is the title of the latest single from Broken Baby. And Popdust has it first. The song is about the Fat Man, who is a metaphor for someone or something.
Broken Baby hangs out in L.A. and is made up of Amber Bollinger and Alex Dezen. The latter has been around and was associated with The Damnwells. The former is both an actress (starred in sci-fi’s Listening) and singer and musician. Their sound radiates beau coup reverberation and a cutting-edge post-punk vibe that’s in-your-face. It’s lo-fi, unprocessed crunch with a hefty dose of buffed up swish.
“The Year of the Fat Man” rides a munching chomping groove with massive quantities of raw punk abrasion. There’s an industrial-bubble gum rock punch to the melody reminiscent of Nine-Inch Nails crossed with the B-52s, and great dollops of The White Stripes’ sonic austerity.
Bollinger’s bruised tones seethe with wild energy, angry frustration, and fuming take-the-wraps-off waspishness. It’s yummy stuff, projecting harsh-textured, palpable colors that buffet the air like a pissed-off Hulk. When Dezen’s voice enters, it’s more to provide tonal contrast than harmony.
I love the nastily tight and outrageously dirty guitar on the song, like being dragged through the mud of some kind of tube-amp hell. Dezen’s guitar is soap-bar pickup heaven.
Blazes of philosophical uneasiness blare forth from the lyrics.
“I’m not the problem / The problem is society / Society takes the problem / And the problem gets solved / So if you have a problem / Justice will protect you / And justice is for all / Maybe I’m the problem / The problem’s not society / Well society has problems / But they never get solved.”
Broken Baby has it going on! Their music is raw and angular, providing a great outlet for neuroses, anger, and where-are-my-meds irritation.
If you’re in L.A., see them live on May 5 at the Redwood Bar.
Randy Radic is a Left Coast author and writer. Author of numerous true crime books written under the pen-name of John Lee Brook. Former music contributor at Huff Post.
