Terrorista :: Pink and Purple Cassettes

Written by: Andrea Janov, CC2K Music Editor

Terrorista :: Pink and Purple Cassettes

I think that this may be my first cassette series review. And I am fairly psyched on that, though I may be from the end of the cassette era, I most definitely had a walk man in my book bag every day at school, and taped my favorite songs off the radio, always searching for a time when you were able to catch the very binging of a song and not have the dj’s voice over the intro. Anyway, I digress…

The self-described “post-post-post punk” Canadian band Terrorista is releasing a series of 4 cassette tapes. Up to this point they have released the Pink and Purple tapes, with the Green and Blue tapes to come this year. I was super psyched to receive a cassette tape in the mail and have that familiar click as it slide into the tape player. The hum of silence before the A side started was awesome, brought me back to those times instantly.

Released in Sept 2014 the Pink Tape is a mash up of indie, garage, 80s English new wave, surf, dash of punk. Who the hell can make that mash up work? Terrorista can, that is who. The A side, Philip Seymour Hoffman is an intriguing hybrid track, that defies a category, it is raw, weird, and beautiful enough, to carry the weight of the namesake. It is slightly distorted, melodic, screamy. But it all meshes so well it sounds totally natural. Side B, Brand New Language carries the same vibe, slightly haunting, yet upbeat, there is a melody there, yet never sing song-y.

The Purple Tape, released in December 2014, still has that ethereal feeling, that the Pink Tape had, but is much more aggressive. Side A, Darren vs Bag, has a really cool wintery simmer, waiting to boil vibe. The whole music weasels its way in and totally affects you, but the vocals really stood out to me, grabbed me and held me at attention. Side B, Double Negative oscillates between quiet, delicate sections and moments of aggression creating a super cool cadence and feeling to the song.

The Green and Blue tapes will be out later this year, so stay tuned for those reviews. I am super excited to hear what Terrorista has in store for us.