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| Sax Wielders Round Eye |
If it's unique & political, it must be punk. For those about to Drumpf we salute you!
ROUND EYE, Shanghai's Sax-Wielding Experimental Punk Posse, Release "Do the Drumpf" Music Video and Single
"While China is hardly an apt place from which to lob brickbats against abuse of power, Round Eye's critique is nonetheless dead-on in its depiction of the US right wing's paranoid fantasies about Muslims, gays, the urban underclass, and non-white people."
- Dangerous Minds
Round Eye, the experimental, sax wielding, freak punk outfit have accrued a loud and controversial name for themselves since forming in 2012. The Shanghai based group have as of late been a crucial force in bridging a wide gap between the eastern and western hemispheres of DIY punk rock.
The band has released a music video for Do the Drumpf, one of two songs on a digitally released single on Joey Shithead of DOA's Vancouver-based Sudden Death Records. The compilation is a celebration of the second anniversary of the death of common sense in the USA. Round Eye front man Chachy says, "This video is our subjective window into the reality of the sitcom we call American politics. No Trump, No KKK, No Facist USA."
Along with blazing a trail all over the globe they've played host to visiting western punks and some legends as well sharing stages with acts such as The Fleshtones, MDC, Mike Watt + The Missingmen, D.O.A., The FUs, The Boys (UK), Paul Collins Beat, M.O.T.O., Ceremony, Iceage, and eastern notables such as P.K.14, SMZB, SUBS, Hang on the Box, and during a mainland tour of China with UK punk legends The Boys, they were forced to literally move the tour underground after being banned by the Ministry of Culture for lewd artwork on a tour poster. VICE magazine documented one of their 'bunker' gigs in Beijing in glorious baijiu filled detail.
They've won the "Best Local Band" title from Shanghai's City Weekend magazine two years in a row. They've released several acclaimed music videos: "Suntan" starring famed Chinese actress Wang Lin (Xue Yi), best known for her role in the Chinese soap opera Romance in the Rain and appearances in Academy Award winning Ang Lee films such as Lust / Caution), the politically and critically charged nightmare "Billy" and "Sifter" which was entirely filmed in Pyongyang North Korea making it the very first punk video ever filmed in the DPRK.
Round Eye has played numerous festivals around the world and honed their unconventional blend of 50s R&B, Free Jazz and Punk with a critically acclaimed EP Full Circle on Ripping Records which featured Greg Ginn (Black Flag), LP Round Eye which featured Steve Mackay (Iggy Pop & the Stooges, Violent Femmes) & Lo-fi legend R. Stevie Moore, and have recently released their sophomore LP, Monstervision, on Sudden Death Records. This album was recorded by Li Wei Yu & PK 14's Yang Haisong, narrated by former The Daily Show comedian John Bloom (Joe Bob Briggs), and is the last recordings laid to wax of the late great Steve Mackay.
They have drawn comparisons to the Stooges, Captain Beefheart, Dr. Feelgood and The Fall but have more often fallen into a category all their own.
Listen to select tracks at Stereokiller.com and SoundCloud
Watch their wild music videos at YouTube
and for the truly daring, take a gander at their Tour Poster
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