by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
As one half of Brooklyn’s Video Daughters, Ronnie Gonzalez makes experimental punk with an emphasis on no wave and psychedelic exploration. With his solo project Peopling, Gonzalez (now based in the Pacific Northwest) has been leaning into the industrial, noise, and electronic ends of sound, creating something utterly alien with a sense of digital violence that’s as abrasive as it is mechanical. After a handful of self released records that date back over a decade, Gonzalez is once again mining the depths of a sordid world with Appearance, a new record due out October 27th via Already Dead Tapes and Records (Nüde, Material, Cop Funeral). For Peopling, it’s not just a matter of bleeps and blips, the sound has been processed with a sense of atmosphere, incorporating elements of shoegaze, psych pop, and careening punk.
“gEneRaTOr bOys” seems to throw everything in Gonzalez’s arsenal at the wall to see what sticks, and wouldn’t you know it, the entire thing hits like super glue. With tinkling drum machines, murky drones, and pinched melodies, the song is reasonably inviting but not without its discordant touches. The video, directed by Brooklyn visual art extraordinaire Preston Spurlock, matches the same pulsating energy, with manipulated collage pieces and abstraction that seems to revolve around crumbling reality. There are some signature Spurlock characters in there and the entire thing feels wonderfully unnerving.
Peopling will celebrate their album release on October 26th in Seattle at Vermillion with Sonora Enjambre, Arrington De Dionyso, CSTMR, and Suncloudø.