NETHERLANDS - Hope Porn

Brooklyn band Netherlands reveals details of its upcoming, fourth release: new EP Hope Porn, out February 9th on Records and Tapes Records.

Stream new track "Negative Likes," from Hope Porn, here:
https://open.spotify.com/album/5RiHk7csYAILFfiecD2AyX

Led by prolific musician Timo Ellis, whose decades in the New York scene have featured collaborations with Yoko Ono, Cibo Matto, and many more, Netherlands is a singular force. New EP Hope Porn cements the style that has been in the works since the band's 2011 debut: euphoric choruses and brain-rattling psychedelic freakouts soar above a violently grooving rhythm section. 

Comically over-the-top, Netherlands sets its knobs to 11 and lets fly; the energy on Hope Porn is palpable and, as anyone who has witnessed its live shows with the likes of Mutoid Man, Retox, and Melt-Banana can attest, the band puts on an absolute onslaught of a performance. Pounding drums, overwhelming synth bass, and Ellis' guitar wizardry meld into a wall of crushing noise-rock-by-way-of-prog-metal. Yet Netherlands' real magic lies in the contrasts it sets up: falsetto vocals, odd time signatures, and haunting hooks transform the raw power into weirdly delicious and dynamic songs. The overall effect is not unlike that of Swans and Dio playing simultaneously, atop an actual mountain of MDMA.

Ellis' lyrics oscillate between acidic rants and earnest, world-weary observations – alternately hopeless and hopeful. "It's way past 11th hour and it's do or die," he sings in the EP's final moments. "So be a light unto yourself cuz there ain't no god above / Be a deserter in the war on life and be a medic in the war on love!"

Hope Porn was recorded by Ellis at Shame Party Studio in Brooklyn, NY, and mixed and mastered by Tom Tierney (A Place to Bury Strangers, Candiria) at Spaceman Sound in Brooklyn, NY.

"Dio-inflected yowling over Drive Like Jehu overridden-in-the-red propulsion... Glammed out Highway Star vocals running wild and free over distorted bass chaos."
–Noisey

"Gritty, high energy punk/metal, anchored by a huge distorted synth bass tone; the effect is something like Future of the Left banging out one of Torche's more rambunctious tunes."
–BrooklynVegan

"Totally whacked out."
–PunkNews

Tracklist:
1) Fakir Mintas
2) The Moon Boy Swing
3) Negative Likes
4) A New Hope
5) Deathless
6) Rewild!

Lineup:
Timo Ellis - guitar, vocals
Ava Farber - synth bass
Joel "Moon Boy" Willis - drums

Discography:
Hope Porn (2018, Records and Tapes Records)
Audubon (2016, Prosthetic Records)
Silicon Vapor (2013, self-released)
Fantasmatic (2011, self-released)

Photo by Mick Cantarella