Piqued by their cool collaboration with Mandy, Indiana on previous single “Bad Faith”, I decided to check out Regressive Left at The Hague’s Grauzone Festival last weekend. What I witnessed was a blistering set that sounded as if Scott Walker had replaced David Byrne in Talking Heads.
Their new jam “The Wrong Side Of History” is an almost eight-minute long takedown of so-called human ‘prosperity’. Lead vocalist Simon Tyrie imagines a time on earth unspoiled by our intelligent design (“There was no garden of forking paths”), with plenty of zingers in his arsenal.
The line “My gluttonous desire for consumption stems from my fear of nature” particularly stands out in the avalanche of deadpan tongue lashing, propelled by thumping synth-groove not unlike LCD Soundsystem in their prime. It’s another taste of the band’s upcoming debut EP of the same name, out July 15 through Bad Vibrations.
Regressive Left on “The Wrong Side Of History”: “We wanted to highlight is the subject of the story – your stereotypical sensationalist, controversialist white guy – is lamenting their fall from grace from a position of power… these people rule the world right now and they want us to feel sorry for them! But it’s because they know their time is running out.”
Listen to the song below or find it on streaming services.
The Wrong Side Of History EP is out on July 15 through Bad Vibrations (pre-order/save). Keep track of Regressive Left on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
