Release Radar: Joburg’s Sextape offers up expansive sound on new single “Blitzkrieg”

Post-punk four-piece Sextape releases a new single through Netherlands-based The Good Times Co on March 1st - the first single off the band’s debut EP Concrete Funerals.

Tilted “Blitzkrieg”, the song features the harsh and attacking guitar of Lucy Crowley paired with the explosive, driving fuzz of Dylan Fowle’s guitar, both backed by the ferocious rhythm section of Geoff De Sousa (bass) and Christopher Chaye (drums). Crowley’s vocals  bring the song’s cutting and cynical lyricism to life resulting in an exciting and expansive sound.

“Caesar and his commandeers are smiling through their teeth, once you get the taste of blood then nothing’s quite as sweet,” sings Crowley, painting a stark image of the mongers of war, and illuminating the kinds of political courtship by government officials through lines like “Handshakes for a picture to congratulate themselves, everyone’s a winner when you’ve sold the world to hell”. All of this comes to a head in the reprise of the song, as the shimmering slow acoustic guitars roll in underneath the words, “it’s easier to hide, when nothing’s in the sky”, evoking a picture of the experience of being under bombardment from the ground, and contrasts the freedoms we take for granted.

Sextape blends hard-hitting post punk with sincere and conscious writing which is backed by bright melodic guitars, and a driving, aggressive rhythm section. Their live performances are engaging, challenging and they have been described as a force of nature where they juxtapose melody and dissonance to tell stories of truth, and reflections of their lives and experiences in Johannesburg.

The band’s aggressive, industrial take on post-punk reflects the decay and dilapidation of their city, while their use of strong vocal and instrumental melodies reflect the hopes and dreams of their compatriots. Sextape’s music stands as a love letter towards the lives and people of Johannesburg. Earnest, stark and romantic.