Every so often there comes along a piece of music that is so much more than a just a song. Because of its length and brilliant composition, as well as the other components of its complex structure, it becomes a work of art, a masterpiece. In my experience, this has only happened a handful of times, with songs such as: Nofx’s “the Decline,” Craw’s “Caught My Tell,” and the Subhumans' "Cradle to the Grave." Such songs are somewhat like the "A la recherche du temps perdu" (Marcel Proust's literary masterpiece) of music. It would seem that every generation has its own “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,” just as Iron Butterfly did in the late 60’s. And now, the Philadelphia avant garde punk and neo-progressive ghost-core band Northern Liberties has given the Suicide Generation its very own “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.” The song is titled “Suffocation,” and it consumes a small piece of eternity with its many-layered and intricate parts, which begin with a well-constructed noise base of feedback and distant vocals and continues along a course of varying intensity and heaviness and range. For some odd reason, "Suffocation" reminds me of old Christian Death, the Theatre of Pain days, along with Craw, somewhere between Lost Nation Road and Strontium. It's obviously a very personal song, with an undercurrent of fierce emotion, in addition to a deep intellectual well from which springs a mighty fountain of thought. All told, “Suffocation” is twenty-nine minutes in length, and it's worth every second of time that it borrows from the universe.
“Suffocation” is a song that’s not afraid to run with scissors. Nor does it throw salt over its shoulder or knock on wood. It laughs off the seven years bad luck of broken mirrors. And if a black cat should cross its path, it will kneel down and run its cold hand over the animal’s sleek midnight-colored coat, pick it up, and take it home. In other words, it is a rather daring composition. And, to be sure, it leaves enormous footprints in the ground of its path, making it quite easy to track through the wilderness of the City Earth. And I will no doubt follow it to one or both of the only two shows at which Northern Liberties will be performing it live. One in Philadelphia. And another in Bethlehem.
Currently we stand on that invisible line which separates the seasons, spring from winter. It's time to bid farewell to the biting cold and the frost covered ground, to the seemingly perpetual gray skies and the stoical faces of passersby on the street, and the lingering piles of dirty snow melting into the gutters around the city. The sun heralds the approach of spring, and with it the funeral procession begins with head-swelling feedback and noise art, with duel percussion, with keys and thick strings and voice. So, we follow it. And in doing so we realize that we are about to witness a "winter song" laid to rest. Simultaneously we lament the loss of one season and celebrate the arrival of another. I am among them. "Suffocation" by Northern Liberties is the music of the occasion. We will hear it live only twice, the first time in Philadelphia, the second in Bethlehem.
Recently, when I was writing an article on Northern Liberties frontman Justin Duerr for the Examiner, he sent me a Press Release regarding the “Suffocation” recording and shows, which I will now include here in its entirety:
Northern Liberties hereby announce the existence of our new recording, “Suffocation,” a piece of music spanning approximately twenty-nine minutes in length, self-released and self-realized in a limited edition run of 200 copies on vinyl. This recording captures a piece of music that has been forgotten, remembered, refined, scrapped, buried, exhumed, and reburied for several years. It has been given a final resurrection in the year 2009 A.D.
With this recording, and with the manner in which we have chosen to present and share it with the wider world, we hope to create a commemorative object to serve as a marker for the passing of this music from our world. Each record is to act as a tombstone of sorts, as we will only perform this piece of music two times for a public audience – an alpha and an omega – and then no more. This is not only due to the fact that we intend to drape some “specialness” around this record, but also due to the fact that learning the song is akin to learning an entire album, in order, and to do so will require some focused rehearsal up to the scheduled events. We will also temporarily dispense with our usual “no set list, no plan” policy regarding our live presentation, and our instrumentation will include Kevin playing both bass and keyboard just as he does on the recording of the song.
The “Suffocation” record is the first to ignore all pretense of having a “record label,” or that parties other than own are interested in presenting our creative work to the world. The only aspect of this record not completely done “in house” by members of the band was the actual manufacturing of the vinyl. Kevin was responsible for the recording and the packaging of the records, including hand-screening 200 multi-colored designs, each one with a variation either slight or extreme in paper color, color of ink, tone, etc. Justin provided the artwork. And all three members provided monetary funds from the collective “band fund” for the vinyl pressing process.
The musical and lyrical tone are somber, and the song is essentially a "winter song" dealing with problems inherent to existence in a physical dimension, as well as addressing personal and psychological traumas and nightmares. A slow ebb and flow through the necropolis of a "ghost version" of Philadelphia seen from a dream, moves into a meditation on the inevitability of suffering amongst all beings, and finally a musical vortex comes along to sweep away all the words, on Side B. While the song addresses some "shadowed" issues, it is nonetheless a hopeful and loving statement, as the only real hopelessness would be to give up making songs, including those dealing with our sadnesses and nightmares.
"Suffocation" will be performed live for the first time on the carefully chosen date of March 20th (the Vernal Exquinox, which will usher the winter song out of this world, in a celebratory public execution of the music) at Johnny Brenda's (1201 Frankford Ave., Philadelphia) with our friends The Nite Lights, Mischief Brew, and Kiss Kiss Kill.
The ghost of the song will be exorcised on March 28th in Bethlehem, PA at a specific location yet to be disclosed.
Copies of the record are available at a few select local record stores, as well as online at our site. Each copy includes a version of the song on a good quality CD-R for convenience, a full color poster from one of our past tours, and a sticker. The vinyl is available in either clear or murky swirled color mixture. There are 100 copies of each vinyl option. The vinyl is the recommended listening experience, as it features a locked groove at the end of Side B that ought to take a potential listener to a special place, if they allow it to. We recommend listening to it alone, in low lighting, and at high volume.
I'll see you there!
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