Fuseism's newest: Confusion, frustration, and trying to keep going despite it allMy problems with long-form confessional punk are those of most people, and Fuseism is one of the few exceptions I make to my general hatred of this genre.
Things are bad now, and there's very little reason to think they're going to improve any time soon. That's even more the case in Hungary than in the States: over in Budapest, they have real fascists like Jobbik* strong enough to heavily influence the course of national politics, whereas fundamentally us statiunitesi just have the perennial enemy: sociopathic, oligarchic capitalism. Without drifting into Greil Marcus territory re: politics and music, I'll say that Fuseism does an excellent job of breathing life into what usually is a morbid, hackneyed genre of music on this EP, and that's partially because of the current political conjuncture; their indirect response to it is an explosion of conversation. As in, this band sounds like they're starting a conversation and want other people involved in it.
Jerky guitar riffs, a rumble-bumble rhythm section, and Gabor on vocals, who sounds like Ian MacKaye back when he made interesting music**: instead of simply being the figurehead of independent music. That's Fuseism's sound. There are fast and slow parts, surges and withdrawals; I haven't been to a show in years but this is the sorta music that makes me wanna do stagedives again. Fuseism succeeds at injecting life into a rather stale genre and that means that they're worth supporting even if you don't much care for the emo scene, which I don't. This band is interested in communicating, interested in argument, and interested in connecting with other humans. Nebulous hippy horseshit, you sneer, and I'm sure you're right. But conversation is the beginning of anything worthwhile, isn't it?
Listen to the EP, then BUY IT, here.
*Like, Golden Dawn, Magyar style fascists. Like, fire-bombing gypsy encampments fascists. Like, they came for the Jews and no one spoke out, and then they came for us, and there was no one left to help us, fascists.
**I.e., before MacKaye became, simply, a figurehead for independent music (as well as a maker of rather boring music).
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