The members of the Massachusetts post-punk band Landowner say that their new album Assumption was built on the intentionally ridiculous concept of "weak d-beat... as if Antelope were reading the sheet music of Discharge." That's pretty fun! The album drops on Friday, and we've already posted the singles "Rival Males" and "Normal Returns To Normal." Today, Landowner share "Bow To Your Sponsor," which really does sound like the restrained, arty version of a transcendently angry 76-second hardcore protest anthem. (It doesn't really sound like d-beat, though.) Here's how frontman Dan Shaw explains it:
"'Bow To Your Superior" is a short banger about obediently submitting to the supremacy of artificial intelligence. The lyrics suggest AI as a sort of boss we come across at work, whose high position we've been trained to submit to. A lot of Assumption explores how our lives are shaped by the various assumptions we all make, as we engage with media, politics, anxiety, and our own internal landscapes. "Bow To Your Superior" contributes to this theme: AI essentially generates output based on computers making assumptions, and our culture has quickly pushed us to bow to this new tool. We assume AI can do the thinking for us. We're submitting to AI's authority by choosing "Bow To Your Superior" as a single, because, as you may know, short songs perform more successfully on most streaming platforms' soulless algorithms. There's a chance this song reached you today in part due to our obedient cooperation with the machine.
You, however, can hold your head high knowing that you did not encounter "Bow To Your Superior" through streaming-service algorithms. You read about it on Stereogum dot com! Listen below.
Assumption is out 2/27 on Exploding In Sound.
