Violent Change, seasoned veterans of the San Francisco music underground pop scene, have unveiled their latest record (Starcastle) in the week of Halloween. It is perfect timing. The convention-defying pop songs evoke such an haunting, nostalgic ambiance that listening to the record can be a harrowing yet enjoyable experience. Part of that is by design as the record was recorded on a series of TASCAM equipment.
While elements of psychedelia, garage, and power pop can be detected in Violent Change’s music, they are far from your typical, run-of-the-mill band. Unhindered by genre expectations, they know how to surprise you and to catch you by surprise. It makes their most pop-oriented songs (McCartney The Fox, Drivin’) only hit harder.
Starcastle is out now on Sloth Mate Productions.