Or in other words, what kills you is the same thing that gets you through another day. This is the thesis of “Smoking Kills”, the newest flexi disc by Seattle’s Fashion Change. Beginning as the pandemic basement project of Ryan Mathews, Fashion Change is captured here in its most realized form yet, both in terms of added members and sonic expansion. While the troglodytic rhythms and chainsaw guitars of Kyushu punk (see Confuse, Gai) are undoubtedly present, the music and message also borrows from the lighthearted nihilism of UK DIY and brutal indignation of No Trend. In the end, we have 320 seconds of psychoactive hardcore that is greater than the sum of its parts. This is New Music for a New World that none of us asked to be in.
500 black, foil-stamped 7” flexis housed in a linen weave foldover jacket. All songs written, performed, recorded and mixed by Fashion Change. Mastered by Will Killingsworth. Art by Rael Callaci.
