Sweeping Promises
Good Living Is Coming for You
SUB POP/FEEL IT
Let’s be honest, the last few years have felt more like some Orwellian simulation full of little-piggy power struggles and Big Brother surveillance than real life (or, of course, than the various right-wing misinterpretations of 1984). Identifying this disturbing trend pre-pandemic, Sweeping Promises’ late-summer 2020 debut Hunger for a Way Out distilled the paranoia of the modern age as people’s COVID fatigue kicked in and conspiracy theories swirled. Once again, the duo employ art rock to sound an alarm bell on their sophomore record, Good Living Is Coming for You.
The album’s deceptively hopeful title should be taken as a warning rather than as a sign of reassurance. Sweeping Promises turn the burnout of being just another cog in the machine into playful yet sharp post-punk riffs that make their industrial influence feel more like satire. Simultaneously buoyant and mechanical, songs like “Ideal No” pay homage to the discontentment of their art-rock predecessors like The B-52’s and Devo. This exasperation permeates the record, eventually reaching a breaking point on “You Shatter” as cascading synths usher in an all-out meltdown.
While the two-piece ditched the concrete Boston bunker they once recorded in, they still retain the lofty soundscapes riddled with reverb that made even their sharpest riffs sound like a subterranean broadcast from behind enemy lines. Still, their message remains the same in their ongoing plea for an end to willful blindness, as heard on the title track when they mock the contrived importance of material possession: “You live, won’t learn / Concentrating / ’Cause you model your life after what you see / In your hotel rooms and magazines,” sings Lira Mondal. Even the dull hope of escaping this rat race gets dashed on “Walk in Place,” where despite their best efforts, they stay stuck on life’s treadmill.
Presenting a rather bleak portrait of the future, Good Living Is Coming for You is a deliberate shake to the shoulders, a wake-up call, and a cautionary tale of what happens when you stay compliant. With unflinching scrutiny and refreshing candor, Sweeping Promises bring a sense of awareness to times that feel apocalyptic.
