‘Remember what you dreamt to be’
So, I’m back today with the new album with our crunchy, grungy cousins from across the pond, Candy, don’t be fooled by that sugar sweet exterior, these guys are not what it says on the tin. Quite frankly they are much better than a Werther’s or even a Fox’s fruit boiled sweet, much more staying power, and rightly so, once ‘It’s Inside You’ – ahem, ok no sniggering at the back.
These noise merchants proclaim to skyrocket the industry into the next galaxy with their tigerish intensity, their emotions, deep and disturbed, sending distortion and intrusion our way. We begin by questioning our very ‘eXistenZ’ living dangerously, each day being a fight to survive, stress, anxiety, and depression are the name of the game. The album features guest slots from Aaron Melnick of Integrity, Justice Tripp of Angel Du$t, David Gagliardi of Trash Talk, MIRSY and mmph – real name Sae Heum Han all journeying on this twisted, downward spiral, it’s a race to the bottom my friends.
Candy are Zak Quiram – vocals, Steve DiGenio – drums, Michael Quick – lead guitar and Drew Stark on bass all coming together to bring the noise and bring the notoriety. The whole album crashes around you and in just a smidge over thirty minutes your entire being descends into a ‘Silent Collapse’ as you wonder what the fuck just happened.
I will wear my heart on my sleeve and declare ‘start the riot, it’s inside you’ as outro of the year, the continuous bludgeoning is determined, unsettling and yet you gravitate towards it.
A belligerent little bugger, Candy face up and face off with anyone who has the mettle to meddle with them, with breakdowns, and refrains like an affliction, causing deliciously delirious episodes. The lucidity of ‘Dehumanise Me’ is as chilling as it is hypnotic, a summary of ‘our endless human failures’ is an embarrassing testimony to how seriously lacking we are.
The hideousness is documented further with ‘Faith 91’ and the lyrics ‘ born, conform, beaten, torn’ immediately takes me back to the 80’s Indie/Punk scene and The Godfathers classic ‘Birth, School, Work, Death’ each word is a bullet, precise and packed with an urgency that is irrepressible.
Candy are the temptress, aiming for your lips like sugar, their honeyed kisses are likened to drinking deeply from the waters of Lethe. Their unkempt, and untended garden makes for a stunning backdrop so these wildflowers can bloom prolifically.
Tonight, when you toss and turn with your ‘Dreams Less Sweet’ as your morality bursts at the seams, your safety net all tangled and useless, open up and chew on these shards of glass, it’s the hardcore threshold that will be the measure of you.
Azra Pathan
Candy – It’s Inside You out now.