If your speakers aren’t slightly bleeding after one spin of TV FACE’s new single ‘White Noise White Lies’, you probably didn’t have them loud enough.
The Lancaster trio return snarling and sharpened on this blistering slice of post-shoegaze noise punk- equal parts angular precision and unhinged catharsis. Out via Crackedankles Records and coinciding with their headline set on the Introducing Stage at Rebellion Festival, the UK’s biggest punk gathering, ‘White Noise White Lies’ is both a statement and a warning: TV FACE aren’t here to play nice.
The track rides a twitchy rhythm section into battle, with guitars slashing through odd time signatures and feedback-laced walls like a band that grew up worshipping Fugazi and MBV in equal measure. But it’s not all noise for noise’s sake- TV FACE bury melody in the chaos, sneaking in grooves that wriggle under the skin before detonating in the chorus. There’s a cunning craft beneath the cacophony.
Lyrically, ‘White Noise White Lies’ is layered and cynical- an artful critique of exploitation, artistic constraint, and media misdirection. The vocals growl, as if daring the listener to fight through the static and find something real. It’s punk in its essence, but with the cerebral lean of early Radiohead or the confrontational sarcasm of Mclusky.
Produced by Rob Whiteley (fresh off BC Camplight’s latest), the track is the second taste of Wolf Rents Bark, the band’s upcoming second LP. If this single is anything to go by, the album will mark a darker, harder evolution from 2023’s acclaimed debut ‘Tide of Men’. TV FACE aren’t smoothing out the edges- they’re doubling down on them.
And live? Expect nothing short of combustion. The band’s set at Rebellion is poised to be a feral showcase, the kind that leaves you dazed and thrilled in equal measure. TV FACE have always been ones to push back at expectation, but with ‘White Noise White Lies’, they don’t just push- they fracture it.
For fans of: METZ, early Biffy Clyro, Sonic Youth, Show Me the Body, and noise with intent.