by Louis Marrone (@LouisJ_Marrone)
Hailing from San Diego, Exasperation’s Garrett Prange (guitar & vox), Dave Mead (drums), and Steve Dale have a painful self-awareness regarding their debt to the legends of the rock scene that they grew up listening to. But nevertheless, the energy and noise of their debut LP, Paradise, just as quickly brings to mind the moment after the world realized a certain reality: Ronald Reagan was going to be sworn into office, and things were about to take a U-turn from the progressive attitudes of the Carter era. All of this was happening in the early ‘80s, when hardcore gave way to indie rock. Post-Trash is proud to premiere their newest music video for their track “Full Story”.
The record’s title retains some of that scene’s irony, but now as it was then, the message is no joke: Donald Trump was elected President in the middle of the original Paradise sessions; in the aftermath, the band re-branded into an angrier quartet of rambunctious youths who set out to make a statement with their music. They became more ambitious in their efforts.
The band’s sound is something of a more reserved sound reminiscent of the kind found in bands like Parquet Courts. The guitars and the vocals are political and tell a story in their own right. The video displays that very aesthetic, featuring the destruction of their guitars, their skateboards-- the things they presumably hold dear to them, to show that they mean business. To add to the intensity, the destruction is shown in a close, birds-eye view.