by Taylor Ruckle (@TaylorRuckle)
There are times in Taciturn’s “Wretch” where it seems like the intensity might be letting up–the screaming tremolo guitars might be leveling off, the bass throb might be bringing it back down to earth–but each time, the Phoenix and LA-based noise punk trio only let the distortion ripple out for a brief moment before charging forward again. The song was a live staple before the release of their 2019 debut record, the shoegaze, no-wave, and post-hardcore influenced Punk Death, and it carries on in its wretched glory even today, with the band finally giving it the music video treatment. It may have been three years since the studio version came out, but “Wretch” is still a living, breathing piece of Taciturn.
“‘Wretch’ is an unrelenting, swarming track that leans towards chaos despite underlying order,'' says bassist/vocalist Natasha Janfaza. “Out of all of the songs on Punk Death, it’s the track that allows for the most improvisation live, and for that reason, it’s incredibly cathartic.” Guitarist/vocalist Nyle Hamidi goes a step further, calling it the record’s single most cathartic song. “You’ll notice we like to toy with dynamics in our songs–going from aggressive to soft, melodic to droney, typical to not,” he says. “But in ‘Wretch,’ we’re redlining chaos the entire time. At least on guitar and vocals, I’m dumping the same emotion throughout the song, only minutely changing how I get that emotion out.”
The video, directed by Tina Tehrani, pays tribute to the special space it occupies in the band’s live set, featuring footage of two shows the band has previously shared to YouTube: Live in McNeir from November of 2018 and Outback Snakehouse Live from July of 2019. Of course, it’s also intercut with studio footage, shots from beaches and snowy roadways, and all types of visual distortion–another manifestation of the song’s unbridled audio chaos.