Barely Human

I'm in Strife; I Like Low Life (...and Haram)

The final episode of Barely Human brings us into the present day with two punk bands who briefly caught the eye of the broader culture...for better or worse. First we find Low Life in Sydney, Australia: a satirical punk band who released an LP in 2014 that somehow got swept up in the #pizzagate scandal (kinda). Then we go back to New York City to find hardcore band Haram who played a fierce brand of hardcore that drew the attention of the FBI and NYPD's Joint Terrorism Taskforce in 2017. Barely Human is written and hosted by Max Easton, and produced by Jason L'Ecuyer and Output Media. Visit the website for show notes featuring extra discussion, sources, further reading and detailed credits here: https://www.barelyhuman.info/2020/04/ep-12-im-in-strife-i-like-low-life-and.html. The accompanying playlist called '21st C Obscurity' can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0ezYuT4x1PjHfe2SRqPpRC Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, all @barelyhumanpod

Lend Me a Fiver; I Like Dick Diver (...and Total Control)

In Episode 11 of Barely Human, we arrive in the contemporary to look at an incredibly active subcultural community in Melbourne, Australia. In Dick Diver we find a band who related to the contemporary condition by singing about items littered on the kitchen table, before unwittingly creating a genre given the less than kind name of 'dolewave.' Then we cross to the post-punk mania of Total Control, who turned to paranoid visions and the sounds of dystopia to become one of the most influential bands of the 2010s. Barely Human is written and hosted by Max Easton, and produced by Jason L'Ecuyer and Output Media. Visit the website for show notes featuring extra discussion, sources, further reading and detailed credits here: www.barelyhuman.info. The accompanying playlist called 'Melbourne Scenius' can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1DWrsze7gJPLjIplnOYMav Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, all @barelyhumanpod

Nothing Pleases; I Like Country Teasers (...and Lucille Bogan)

The tenth episode of Barely Human looks at boundary pushing obscenity through the lens of two vastly disconnected artists. In English garage satirists Country Teasers, we look at the slippery slope of satire and 21st Century obscenity: to find the endpoint of a long history of free speech arguments. From that "evil country outfit," we then find a blues singer from Alabama named Lucille Bogan, who was writing songs about fucking, bootlegging and sex work as far back as the 1920s. Barely Human is written and hosted by Max Easton, and produced by Jason L'Ecuyer and Output Media. Visit the website for show notes featuring extra discussion, sources, further reading and detailed credits here: The tenth episode of Barely Human looks at boundary pushing obscenity through the lens of two vastly disconnected artists. In English garage satirists Country Teasers, we look at the slippery slope of satire and 21st Century obscenity: to find the endpoint of a long history of free speech arguments. From that "evil country outfit," we then find a blues singer from Alabama named Lucille Bogan, who was writing songs about fucking, bootlegging, sex work and making "dead men cum" as far back as the 1920s. The accompanying playlist called 'The Obscenity Revival' can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4I4AeVVvkQrruzdNOrrKSr Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, all @barelyhumanpod

Dead Inside; I Like R.L. Burnside (...and Cheater Slicks)

After stepping into the '90s last episode, Episode 9 highlights the backward looking glance of that decade: via its garage punk revival, and notions of 'discovery.' We look at R.L. Burnside, a unique Hill Country blues player who performed for decades in small-town Mississippi, becoming a household name after collaborating with the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion 50 years after his first gig. Then we turn to the most resilient underdogs of the '90s garage revival: a band from Boston called Cheater Slicks, who didn't languish in obscurity...but reveled in it. Barely Human is written and hosted by Max Easton, and produced by Jason L'Ecuyer and Output Media. Visit the website for show notes featuring extra discussion, sources, further reading and detailed credits at: https://www.barelyhuman.info/2020/03/ep-9-dead-inside-i-like-rl-burnside-and.html. The accompanying playlist called 'The Hill Country Revival' can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1tkltr0SbVOdEPmZssueOb Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, all @barelyhumanpod

Life Makes Me Nervous; I Like Butthole Surfers (...and Stick Men With Ray Guns)

From the English post-punk response discussed last episode we move to Texas in Episode 8, to find two anti-punk agitators of the 1980s. In Butthole Surfers, we find an unhinged band who took the absurdism and hallucinogens of the '60s counter-culture, and painted the punk and hardcore underground with it. When they then hit the '90s, signed to a major label, scored a hit with 'Pepper,' and sued the DIY label who made them...they ended up as DIY anti-christs. Later in the episode, we look at their close friends Stick Men With Ray Guns: a mirror image of the Surfers who never left Texas, never released a record in their time, and were left to fade into obscurity alongside their troubled frontperson Bobby Soxx. Barely Human is written and hosted by Max Easton, and produced by Jason L'Ecuyer and Output Media. Visit the website for show notes featuring extra discussion, sources, further reading and detailed credits here: https://www.barelyhuman.info/2020/03/ep-8-life-makes-me-nervous-i-like.html The accompanying playlist called 'The Anti-Punks' can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5BRSdRokzqycZ4mqj67s5a Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, all @barelyhumanpod