Four anti-anthems from your new favorite punk band.
How do you deal with a relationship as it crumbles in slow motion, just barely surviving on
remnants of the past for comfort's sake? I keep thinking about something a friend said to
me recently about how to deal with someone isn't quite an ex––block them on every form
of social media, delete their number, do not speak to them ever again. Even though I
can't quite bring myself to such extreme action, I still think about extreme and honest
things I want to say. Right now, these four songs by The Meltaways are resonating.
The Meltaways are a four-piece punk band from New York, made up of Kate (who also
plays in Arm Candy), Maddy, Beck, and Ben. Their first demo clocks in at just
about six and a half minutes, and I've been playing it over and over as a means of noisy
and angry empowerment. They're constantly railing against something, maybe against
everything, claiming independence from every variety of oppression. I think about
systemic sexism and unhealthy relationships and anxiety, and I use each of these
four songs as an anti-anthem, rejecting fucked up situations and behaviors. Even though
I've never been able to muster the guts to scream anything as aggressively confident as
"You're not worth my time, I'll never compromise" from "Enough" or even admit anything
like "Can't stand anything about you, I regret the time I spent around you" from
"Possession," I feel energized every time I listen to those songs. I want to embody
intensity and fearlessness, and I'm still learning how to speak up. and when I listen to The
Meltaways, I feel like I can do anything.
STREAM IT:
Listen to The Meltaways on bandcamp.
Caroline Rayner, who likes getting tattoos and cutting up old magazines and driving long distances and baking cookies. She also writes things for Tiny Mix Tapes and, when she remembers, her blog.
