It's been more than a decade since the Calgary post-punkers Preoccupations, then known as Viet Cong, released their debut album. Cindy Lee, who used to be in Women with a couple of Preoccupations members, is now an elusive indie rock star. Preoccupations are getting ready to release Ill At Ease, their fifth album. Given all of those things, Preoccupations are exactly the sort of indie rock band who might be taken for granted. That would be a mistake. They are making some really, really good music right now.
When Preoccupations announced Ill At Ease last month, they dropped the lead single "Focus," and it was awesome. Now, they've shared another track called "Bastards," and this one is just as good. It's a sharp, confident rager that's built on beautifully retro-futuristic '80s synth sounds and a raspy, defiant lead vocal. In a press release, the band says that the song is "mostly is about being annoyed by other people, and then at some point realizing that everyone else is as equally annoyed by you, then meeting in the middle and sharing a profound and unified sense of enjoyment at a world's impending doom." Check it out below.
Ill At Ease is out 5/9 on Born Losers.
