Stream: Warbly Jets, ‘Propaganda’

Kevin Bronson on December 17th, 2018

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“Propaganda” is a loaded word. But besides the title of the forthcoming EP from Warbly Jets, what is it, really? “Anything from advertisement to self-aggrandizement qualifies,” argues multi-instrumentalist Julien O’neill. “From social media, push notifications, targeted ads — we’ve openly elected to carry around miniature billboards, playing our part under the promising guise of a sense of ‘connection.’ We feel empty without it.”

In a manner of speaking, “Propaganda” is the L.A. rockers’ own propaganda. The band — anchored by O’neill, Samuel Shea and Dan Gerbang — dispenses it with the same caustic fervor they displayed on their 2017 debut album. Warbly Jets spent much of this year on the road, including dates opening for Liam Gallagher, and they’ve dialed in their sound to the noisier tip of ’90s Britrock, including the screamier side of Primal Scream. “Right now, we’ve got to get it together / There must be some way to survive this tortured era,” Shea sings over a surging backbeat. There must, right?

The EP, out Jan. 4, follows the release of the single “Inhuman Emotion,” which came out in April.

||| Stream: “Propaganda”