FUCK YOUR BIRTHDAY Releases BBQd EP + Drop “Repeat Offender”
Photo Credit: XiaTieNiu
Fuck Your Birthday, the alt-rock duo based in Wenzhou, China have just dropped their latest EP titled BBQd. The three-song EP was previously digitally released in China only. Now BBQd is available on all digital platforms worldwide.
BBQd is the first latest music from Fuck Your Birthday since their single, “House Of 1000 Corners,” was released last June as part of the compilation album NEF100: Burn After Hearing celebrating the 100th release from indie label Nefarious Industries. Being based in the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in Fuck Your Birthday being forced to cut short a tour of China and the United States. The duo would pause all musical activity until this year.
When vocalist/guitarist Christopher Henry moved to China after accepting a job as an ESL teacher in 2016, Fuck Your Birthday had already toured and released three EPs. Despite the long distance between Henry and drummer Roman Meisenberg, Fuck Your Birthday continued as a working band. Meisenberg regularly traveled to China to meet with Henry to record new music and tour.
Despite being made up of foreigners, Fuck Your Birthday has become a truly Chinese band. The title BBQd refers to a Chinese pop culture trend that gave the band inspiration.
As Henry explains,
"In recent years, a meme spread around China in which a man autotune-croons, '完啦, Barbecue啦' over clips of fails or awkward situations. It basically means, 'oh shit, I'm cooked.’ With that sentiment in mind, we've imagined a character that lives in that kind of world and ties these three songs together. He always seems to get himself stuck in rocky hard places. He succumbs to alcoholism on 'Moonshine' as he isolates himself outside of an unspecified rural Appalachian town. Then he finds himself in an awkward situation trying to reconcile his strict notions of masculinity with a kiss between buddies on 'Propane Accessories.’ This leads to an overcompensation in violent crime that lands our protagonist in prison. 'Repeat Offender' is the final (yet not so final) act of this vicious circle. In a world where mass shootings, police brutality, and bigotry in our culture becomes motif rather than outlier, we are all BBQd."
Fuck Your Birthday has also released a music video for the track, “Repeat Offender.” Mostly filmed in stark black and white, Fuck Your Birthday are dressed in prison uniforms and run from a brutal police officer. The video’s visuals are bare bones much like the music itself, but both get to the point and are powerful.
When describing the track Henry asked, "One might associate motif with highly respected art, but who's to say that it can't be used to describe depravity? This short ditty aims to hold a mirror up to horrors of the world that have become motif in modern times. Musically, it pulls inspiration from nu metal, boom-bap, and noise rock. It's extremely fun to play live, even if it leaves audiences stunned by its brevity."
BBQd continues Fuck Your Birthday’s exploration of 90s alternative rock and grunge. Among the influences cited by Fuck Your Birthday are bands like Dinosaur Jr., Fugazi, Sonic Youth, Death From Above 1979, Royal Blood, Tera Melos, Whores., Primus, Refused, and Chevelle. Fuck Your Birthday inject catchy hooks that grab a hold of you.
BBQd is available on all digital platforms via Nefarious Industries. Fuck Your Birthday recorded BBQd in Wenzhou. The EP was mixed by David Klug and mastered by Bill Henderson at Azimuth Mastering. Chinese photographer XiaTieNiu shot the album art for BBQd.
