As much as it’s scary to be outside in our city right now, it’s been really reassuring to be at community events, see so many faces and feel like we all have each other’s backs. Katie: I’m really happy that everything came together. They wanted to know how I feel about being accountable for the politics of our former publisher and what it’s like to be a freelance journalist on the precipice of a media industry that’s increasingly falling through the cracks of an Accelerationist agenda. Midway through our conversation, Priests flipped the script and started interviewing me. And now that the nationalists and conspiracy theorists are coming to town, they’re energized in opposition. Being privy to the district’s longstanding income gap has fortified the band with the sense of outrage that D.C. I spoke with the band on Inauguration Day, hours before “NO THANKS,” an anti-fascist concert organized by Greer at The Black Cat back home in D.C., was set to begin. Like the most effective agents of change, Priests quite literally operate inside the system that needs dismantling. Priests understand that a sense of outrage is a great place to start, but their lyrics offer listeners a challenge, too-once you’ve realized how the narrative is controlled and how the creative class is marginalized, what are you going do about it? Will you own your words?
![the priests band the priests band](https://i0.wp.com/www.synthpopfanatic.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/priest2.jpg)
Jaguar on guitar and Taylor Mulitz on bass. Despite this, Priests still manages to create a fresh and enjoyable album that warrants several return visits.Embedded in these tunes are the radically well-read minds of their creators-Katie Alice Greer on vocals, Daniele Daniele on drums, G.L. However, some songs fail to impress, causing the album to drag at times. They explore stadium rock, shoegaze, dance and many more genres for the most part, it works well and there are no abysmal tracks. On The Seduction of Kansas, Priests finds themselves in uncharted territory, taking their post-punk roots places they have never been before. It’s by no means bad or unenjoyable, but it feels like something is missing. Outside of these two late gems though, the album fails to blow any minds. The album picks up a little once it hits “Good Time Charlie,” one of its singles, and “68 Screens,” a delightfully weird track highlighted by shining synthesizer strokes and Priests’s own take on hardcore gang vocals. The songs disrupt the tone set by the record’s first three songs. “I’m Clean” and “Ice Cream” are both quiet, brooding songs marked by a bass guitar lead. The songs themselves are good, but they just aren’t great. Unfortunately, after “Youtube Sartre,” the album begins to feel overly long. What’s more, the song at first sounds like a typical rock song, but beneath the buzzsaw guitar is a dainty, bizarre vibraphone plodding along largely unnoticed and underappreciated. On the song “Youtube Sartre,” the band takes aim at anyone opposed to their beliefs and lifestyles, particularly the perpetually-disapproving baby boomers.
![the priests band the priests band](https://turnupthatvolume.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/p1030313.jpg)
The band is doing exactly what they want, and they’re not afraid to piss anyone off in the process. The villains in the movies always have the best clothes, they always seem the coolest.” The Seduction of Kansas certainly does have this air about it. In a track-by-track breakdown of the entire album released by Stereogum, the band states, “Being bad is fun. The lyrics are gnarly and a little gross, and that is just how the band wants it. The bassline makes the song infectious and danceable, so much so that it’s hard to resist the urge to get up and move while listening to the song. The guitar soars, the drums are driving and the vocals are sharp, but it’s the bass that sets this song apart. Simply put, “Jesus’ Son” sounds big, clearly drawing from stadium rock. It sets the tone for the rest of the album, as any opener should. Album opener, “Jesus’ Son,” is a far cry from anything on Nothing Feels Natural. When these sounds do break through, though, they hit hard. They bubble beneath the surface as the band does its thing. This description makes it sound like the Priests is trying to do too much, but most of these new sounds are barely noticeable. Priests tackles more sounds on The Seduction of Kansas than most bands will over the course of their whole careers.
The priests band full#
However, with The Seduction of Kansas, Priests have totally eschewed post-punk in favor of a new genre, one much less defined, one that allows the band to full stretch its wings.
![the priests band the priests band](https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1038133656_10.jpg)
It is difficult to navigate the post-punk genre and experiment within it without crossing back into punk or straying into alternative. The band masterfully demonstrated their post-punk chops, but that genre seems to have its limitations. After releasing their excellent album Nothing Feels Natural, it was hard to imagine where Priests would take their sound.