Remote Control Struggles to Breath in “Anaphylaxis” of Current Events

Richmond based indie rock band, Remote Control, try to synthesize overlapping global crises in their latest EP titled Anaphylaxis. As the first of two digital EPs, it grapples with a growing sense of tension and strain when it comes to environmental issues, political upheaval, and a shift in the social fabric brought on by the pandemic and the digital age of the internet.

With each song gradually growing in length, the band storms out of the starting gate with the title track which renounces the notion of “stirring the pot” as a form of sucking all the air out of a room or conversation. The drums and guitar balance off-kilter rhythms, the band asks sarcastically through the chorus “Have you got it all figured out?” prompting self-reflection on whether the information being spewed has been vetted, said before, or is even useful.

“You want to be the victim / I wanna be the hero” they sing in the following track “Blow For Blow” which gets deeper into the echo chamber of endless bickering on the internet. Finally, we arrive at the final song “Take Me Back” which pokes holes in the idea of a mythical “before” by pointing out that these issues have always existed even if one wasn’t aware of them until now.

The entire EP feels like a scathing review of the endless now and the way that the effects of late-stage capitalism are starting to become impossible to ignore. As we struggle to breathe through the Anaphylaxis of current events, it becomes clear that if we don’t face sources of this ills head on, it may suck the life from us before we even have a moment to realize it’s already gone.

Anaphylaxis is available now on major streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, BandCamp, and TIDAL. Find the title track and more excellent music on the Alchemical Records Multigenre Mixture playlist on Spotify.