Totally Unicorn Set Fire To Dream Warriors with Explosive Single 'Hard Feelings'
“Rapid thoughts are often a symptom associated with anxiety. They can make people feel out of control or as if they are going crazy.” - Dr. Carl Rosenberg, MD
It's an affliction many of us have encountered while trying to drift off to dreamland; the “rapid thoughts” as referred to by Ohio based Neurologist Dr. Rosenberg, which instigate the dreaded feeling of insomnia. Essentially, this is the cycle of obsessing about daily worries, like work and finances, negative memories and other possible irrational contemplations resulting in ourselves counting the minutes, losing sleep and imagining our exhaustion the following morning.
“They can make people feel out of control or as if they are going crazy.”
That’s a rather befitting description of mathcore New South Welshmen Totally Unicorn, yeah? (YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH) [coach].
11 long months since the release of the pulverising ‘Parrot’ party noisecore anthem, Drew Gardner (vocals/gymnast), Aaron Streatfeild (guitar), Dean Podmore (bass) and Adam Myers (drums) have unleashed the chaotic hardcore hit ‘Hard Feelings’ and this writer can guarantee, it isn’t a tune “to rock to sleep” to. Matter-of-factly it is “too rock to sleep” on!
The Dream Warriors (see: A Nightmare On Elm Street 3) take it to the streets, a cemetery, under a bridge, a bathroom, an industrial work zone, a sport stadium, a couch, a room with an aura of The Shining film, a parking lot and even the great outdoors for an explosive fiery finish of their fantastic film clip (apparently Mr. Gardner nearly went to a permanent sleep from a near accident). This was shot, directed and produced by guitarist Aaron Streatfeild with locations around Sydney and Adelaide being used for this captivating cinematic experience. Spoiler alert: Freddy Kruger doesn’t make an appearance.
Lyrically, Drew has explored sleeplessness addressing his own anxieties as an almost alter-ego of himself, as he brilliantly bellows in the song’s pre-breakdown bridge: “I’ve got the power, you hate my point of view. I’ll see you in your head at 3am, haunting you.”
Truthfully, that is rather reminiscent of Freddy Krueger.
As Drew elaborates: “This is my anthem for anxiety and sleepless nights; the kind of nights where your brain refuses to switch off, replays old conversations on loop, and plots out disaster scenarios just for fun."
The frenzied four-piece have progressed their magnificent mathcore soundscape further with this hard-hitter. Fusing the punk experimentations of Canada’s Fucked Up with the artcore of Baltimore’s Octaves and then a brutiful breakdown of earlier Counterparts motivation, the amazing amalgamation was recorded over one frenzied weekend at Marrickville’s Golden Retriever Studios with longtime collaborator Jonathan Boulet (Party Dozen, ARSE).
‘Hard Feelings’ will be celebrated with a rollicking raucous East Coast tour, which will see the unhinged ‘Unicorn hitting Gadigal (Sydney), Naarm (Melbourne), and Meanjin (Brisbane) this May and June.
“They can make people feel out of control or as if they are going crazy.”
What’s not to ‘Like’ about that?
Words by Will Oakeshott @teenwolfwill
TOTALLY UNICORN - HARD FEELINGS EAST COAST TOUR
Friday 30 May - Marrickville Bowlo – Gadigal / Sydney
Friday 07 June - The Tote (Upstairs) – Naarm / Melbourne
Friday 21 June - The Bearded Lady – Meanjin / Brisbane
