Guest
Netherlands “.“ from the album Kali Corvette available here: “As a young person I only had a latent/ vague sense of possibly how rotten our country’s history had been… But it was 9/11 that more or less dramatically accelerated my desire to try to develop a rigorous historical understanding of US foreign policy and the grotesque legacy of colonialism and US imperialism. But for whatever reason…over the years I haven’t ended up regularly writing songs directly about this stuff… I guess I didn’t wanna sound too bitter/ strident, etc.- however, during the Trump presidency my rage and despair about the complete catastrophe of US politics started unavoidably bubbling its way to the surface…and in late 2020 I wrote this song, as a means of downloading my disgust at our out of control imperial hubris and exceptionalism. The current Israel/ Palestine mega-catastrophe compelled me to spontaneously put together a sort of “found footage /conceptual lyric video” for the song, which, sadly, the message of the song, (IMO) couldn’t be more applicable/ timely than in this horrific moment of US sponsored genocide- even though the message of this song is pretty “on the nose” (lol) I feel like there is a fair amount (important!) nuance, compassion, humor and humanity, if, um, you listen closely. haha! HO-KAY.“ - Timo Ellis Video edited by Chris Carlone and Timo Ellis. Lead singer, multi-instrumentalist, compulsive creator, and unrepentant volume addict Timo Ellis (Yoko Ono, Cibo Matto, Sean Lennon, Joan As Police Woman, Spacehog) formed NETHERLANDS in 2010 in NYC. The band has since shared stages with Napalm Death, Melt Banana, Mutoid Man, Yob, Retox, Black Flag, Eyehategod, Flipper, Martin Rev, The Death Set, Moon Tooth, and Witch Mountain, among many others. Now with drummer David Keith (Rainbow), the band continues to reject restraint in favor of maximum impact: shredding chops, soaring vocals, and maddening hooks. Netherlands crushes decades' worth of bombast into psychotropic nuggets of evil sludge-rock bliss, with nods to the dirtbag rituals of 70’s acid rock and punk, the grandeur of 80’s arena rock, and the guttural intensity of 00’s posthardcore. KALI CORVETTE is Netherlands’ 6th full LP, and features all the hallmarks of Ellis’ work; blistering guitar heroics, primal drumming, and searing caterwauls. However KALI CORVETTE veers bracingly into the realm of electro-noise-punk, ratcheting up the intensity into a uniquely weaponized form of rock that reaches towards high art. The record features guest performances by Gibby Haynes (Butthole Surfers), Michael Kubacki (Car Bomb), Tim Dahl (Lydia Lunch Retrovirus, Child Abuse), Daisy Press (Steve Reich) and Suzanne Von Aichinger (The Suzannes.) KALI CORVETTE is another chapter in the book of a band that’s consistently released heavy music on its own terms and with its own undeniable personality. There’s a reason contemporary heavy luminaries like Joe Duplantier of Gojira and Bill Kelliher of Mastodon count themselves amongst Netherlands’ biggest fans, and KALI COREVETTE’s 7 tracks effortlessly demonstrate NETHrock’s potency once again.
