I, for one, have never been opposed to the prospect of a noise-rock LP summed up by its creators as a “nihilistic death march,” but the first half of 2025 has surely made a record like Chrome Dipped a particularly welcomed sound for a broader demographic of ears. The melodically aggressive tones of Australia’s CIVIC feel geared toward this moment of tension and frustration both here in the States and abroad, with the band’s lyrics vaguely addressing themes that conveniently match up with the conspiracy wormholes we’ve lost distant relatives to over recent years and a growing sense of AI supremacy some of us may soon be losing our livelihoods to, as well.
The band mostly speaks in abstraction when discussing the 11 songs on Chrome Dipped, perhaps less as songwriters carefully guarding the true meanings of their work and more so due to the fact that the snarling vocals and wailing guitars behind them (to say nothing of the “disgusting” central riff on at least one of these tracks) do plenty of talking themselves. While their overarching sense of nihilism can be found in the lyrics if you’re searching for them, it’s hard to deny that the catharsis this mood permits provides more than a bit of the muscle behind each of these doomy post-punk cuts.
With the record out today via ATO, listen along and read through the band’s statements on each song below. You can also purchase Chrome Dipped here.
1. “The Fool”“The Fool” is about living in an illusion or lie that supports your own selfish narrative and lifestyle patterns. You think you’re sailing, but you're actually drowning. [It’s] a nihilistic death march about dreamers and idiots. A jangly pagan punk song meant to provoke the senses. It recalls the story of the fool and what's behind the thousand-yard stare.
2. “Chrome Dipped”
A balancing act between human emotion in a world that’s hurtling toward complete reliance on the machine.
3. “Gulls Way”
Paints a picture of a rose expelling its seeds to create offspring. The garden is grown only to be tainted by a freezing storm. Your world freezes over. A farewell song to loved ones.
4. “The Hogg”
Finding peace and gratitude in being out of your depth in a foreign place. The song is about staring into the abyss and seeing nothing but its pure beauty. Surface-level pleasure with sinister undertones. A porcelain dancer draped in flesh, pirouetting to the infinite beat. ‘The Hogg’ is my reality. ‘The Hogg’ is my destiny.
5. “Starting All the Dogs Off”
I’m painting a picture of this character on a mission to nowhere, that’s leaving a trail of destruction behind him, but can’t deny his human emotions getting in the way. There’s a love story in there, there’s loss, there’s all this life stuff getting in the way of his journey to emotional freedom. The ending is kind of this ultimate form—it’s like the final blow. It’s about giving into who you are, and coming to that realization.
6. “Trick Pony”
Being stuck in the anxious brain. Fight-or-flight in full effect. The pinnacle of disaster.
7. “Amisuss”
Serendipitous events around the loss of my mother. Noticing/experiencing her spirit in a non-tangent way. It was almost like watching the transformation of her leaving her physical body behind and becoming something that still resides in and around me.
8. “Poison”
Ultimately a song about a relationship/friendship becoming toxic.
9. “Fragrant Rice”
The change of hand in kinship and the fear around that becoming your reality. Humanity is the rice. We are all the same. We will all have loss.
10. “Kingdom Come”
“Kingdom Come” is a ballad about people who live with longterm addiction and manage a life through a chaotic and turbulent existence. Somehow functional and always on the edge of collapse, but also wanting nothing else.
11. “Swing of the Noose”
Finding freedom in nihilism and embracing the demise.
