‘Game of the Fool’ by System Exclusive | Debut LP Out via Castle Face Records + North American Tour
Today, brand new Castle Face signees System Exclusive share ‘Game of the Fool’, the second off their forthcoming debut self-titled album, due March 4, 2022 via Castle Face Records.
The duo of Ari Blaisdell (Lower Self, The Beat Offs) and Matt Jones (Male Gaze, Castle Face Records) produces their own variation of synth pop. It’s raw, it’s garagey, it’s System Exclusive. Pasadena based two piece band bearing an armful of mini synths, making heart-throbbing capital P pop cut with more than a hint of post-punk. Blaisdell’s vocals hearken back to openhearted 80’s hitmakers unafraid to quaver in the name of love, and they’re buoyed by Jones’ laser-gridded synth concoctions and heavy hand on the ones and twos.
Speaking on the single and its accompanying music video, Ari Blaisdell wrote:
“Definitely one of my favorite songs on the album despite it being about the cycle of abuse, and how hard it is to watch when someone you love has fallen into that cycle. A pretty sad song lyrically but with a dancy fun overtone, because life is like that; multiple opposing things at once. During lockdown I was eager to make a video for this song but we couldn’t go anywhere so I thought about ways I could integrate public domain footage into it. I’ve always been fascinated by the atomic era and atomic bomb propaganda footage just fit the current mood so well. It’s compiled of footage from ‘Survival Under Atomic Attack,’ ‘A is for Atom,’ ‘Atomic Alert,’ ‘Duck and Cover,’ and of course footage from our last show at Permanent Records Roadhouse, one of our favorite venues in LA. Filmed by our pal Enrique Pena Pedilla after we were finally allowed to play live again.”
“Often when music is constructed with synths and other electronically generated sound makers, their level of exactitude and control is such that the vocalist will either wittingly or otherwise seek to emulate the relative artifice of the soundscape. This is often done to great effect, think Kraftwerk. But what if there was a unit whose music was synth-generated but the vocals were coming from a hot-blooded, singing-for-the-cheap-seats approach? If done well, it’s a case of two great tastes that taste great together, which brings me to System Exclusive.
Their multi genre/time period collision is like a car accident where all parties walk away not only unscathed but sure they had a great time, like two different recording sessions sharing the same space and making it work. Vocalist Ari Blaisdell (previously of Lower Self, The Beat Offs) co-exists excellently amidst the driving beats and synth waves and her guitar further helps to jailbreak the tunes from the often sterile entrapments that synths provide. Matt Jones (previously of Male Gaze, Blasted Canyons, and continuing Castle Face behind-the-scenesman)’s smart use of live drums bring great juxtaposition against the machines. Ari’s irony-free sincere delivery is the perfect closer on this very cool record, recorded ably by Enrique Tena Padilla (Osees, Wand, Beach House) in their backyard studio mid-pandemic and adorned with original artwork by Miles Wintner (L.A. Takedown, Mr. Elevator, Devon Williams). If you don’t get this slab of goodness, well, that act of non-compliance will confirm you as the pain-in-the-ass that many have described you to be in great detail during Zoom chats. How dare they! Prove them wrong! Reduce their snark to mere pseudo-intellectual piffle! Your lifeline arrives in March. Grab it.” – Henry Rollins
System Exclusive have also announced a North American tour, set to begin next month.
March 24 – Zebulon – Los Angeles CA
March 25 – The Quarry – Bisbee AZ
March 26th – Planet Marfa – Marfa TX
March 27 – The Far Out – Austin TX
March 31 – Saturn Bar – New Orleans LA
April 1 – DKDC – Memphis TN
April 2 – Hitt Records – Columbia MO
April 3 – Flamingo Lounge – Louisville KY
April 4 – The East Room – Nashville TN
April 5 – The 529 – Atlanta GA
April 8 – The Crayola House – Harrisonburg VA
April 9 – Snug Harbor – Charlotte NC
April 11 – Squeezebox Records – Wilmington DE
April 12 – Union Pool – Brooklyn NY
April 13 – TV Eye – Ridgewood NY
April 14 – Little Rose Pub – Cleveland OH
April 15 – MOTR Pub – Cincinnati OH
April 16 – State Street Pub – Indianapolis IN
April 18 – Empty Bottle – Chicago IL
April 19 – X Ray Arcade – Milwaukee WI
April 20 – Dark Horse Art Bar – Madison WI
April 21 – Palmers Bar – Minneapolis, MN
April 22 – The Sydney – Omaha NE
April 25 – Hi-Dive – Denver CO
April 26 – The DLC – Salt Lake City UT
Headline photo: Kristen Linney
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