With their newest single, “Social Suicide”, Melbourne’s Bad/Love take aim at the digital wonderland that is social media. Pulling listeners into critical conversation about sky high standards that exist in that pixelated landscape, the song is both a commentary and a wake up call. The Cian Marangos/The AV Club music video deftly expresses that digital world in visual form and reinforces the tiny window of social media that so much energy is directed toward.
For the uninitiated, Bad/Love are Landon Kirk (vocals), Lachlan Monty (guitar), Zac Noble (bass), and Alex Trail (drums), and we last heard from the band with the release of “DMU” in February. Given both “DMU” and “Social Suicide” are nestled together in Spotify, we can assume they’re both part of a release to come, but there’s no official word on that yet.
“You hung yourself with a digital noose”
With “Social Suicide”, Bad/Love have enlisted the support of Crossfaith‘s Kenta ‘Ken’ Koie on vocals, giving the tune some additional fire to go with its message to return to reality. After Landon’s meandering tongue-in-cheek vocals, Ken’s contribution is one of urgently reinforcing the fact of our finite existence and calling for return to our own inner authority instead of obeying the unspoken social rules; about perfection of appearance and angling oneself (and one’s social media content) for likes and approval instead of sharing something real.
As Landon shares about the song, “We are losing what makes us human and are trading it in for a cheap artificial quick fix.” He adds, “Young women are chasing an unachievable Photoshop appearance in order to feel accepted while boys are taught that they must not show emotion and should mistreat others to feel important.”
With gang vocals and roars, the track comes across like a heavy blast of ‘What the fuck are we all doing?!’, leaving a sandblasted listener to perhaps consider how they want to live. Watch “Social Suicide” below or stream at your usual places.
