My First Time Being Happily Caught In Traffic

Traffic. The mere word can make the calmest of souls turn into a raging neanderthal that wants to club everything and everyone in his or her path to bits and pieces. What's worse is when they hear the term "human traffic", which, for the most part, can refer to a flock of humans clogging up major pathways on a city block, or just in a space that should be easily passable. However, today, you'll find me happily chanting that I'm caught with a case of Human Traffic - only this time I'm talking of an electronic music project rather than not.

It was through E-Mail that one of the band's members, rehab, contacted me regarding their band. With a touch of delicate terms to win over my interest, including that of calling themsevles a "...trio of degenerate future punks..", I simply couldn't resist looking into their project a bit more. But, a bit more became a lot more, and a lot more came to me writing this article that you are currently reading now.

In case you were wondering about their name and where it came from, I am going to be quoting an interview they did with YOUTH1984 here:

"Without going into too much detail, someone I used to care about dearly had been a victim of human trafficking and was incarcerated as a sex worker since birth. I have not seen or spoken to this person in years. The name of our project is derivative of the injustice and cruel nature of that being a reality for so many individuals, particularly children, and should not be overlooked as a passing issue or treated with negligence."

So, you've know they've been through some shit, or at least heard of it. Regardless, knowing that a friend was put in such a forced position is scarring and tormenting; not knowing where a loved one might be or how long they may have to live can be absolutely brutal on a person's mind and soul. Pair that with a punk loving background, and you've got yourself a very passionate sounding display of technological mastery.

Anyway, the reason I really got sucked into Human Traffic was because of what they originally contacted me over; the release of their latest single Morgue Witch, which is set to appear on their debut LP. rehab described the song as a ...romanticized horror of being continuously haunted by yourself as an apparition in the eyes of someone else." And this theme certainly comes off well enough.

Analog sounds merge well enough with the vocals done by Lola Rat and rehab himself. Digitally touched, genre bending genius of both flattering echoed effects and almost spoken word lyrical delivery from both mates serve come off nicely. From both Vicki Sixx and rehab, you would swear that they're going for a very high bar. But, that's quite the opposite.

Again, in the interview with YOUTH1984 they stated, they have very poignant views on what they themselves, as artists, do alongside others, "We believe that art is garbage. Our trash inhabits the earth and ocean. We are creatures of waste constantly producing and adding on to the filth. Such a statement by itself however, would be reductive as we are part of the problem."

Such a profound statement would be sure to upset some in the art field, but they themselves are not the type who seem to care for the opinions of others; they face the controversy head on and aren't afraid to do so by far. The fuck all attitude presented by them is outstanding, and I love every bit of it.

I think the most exciting bit about all this is that this is just the tip of the iceberg for them. Sure, they may have already put out an EP and now they have a single out, but with a bold new direction incoming, it's hard to say that they won't go even further.

Loud, aggressive noise ridden industrial sounds completely pushed their first EP, digital ecstasy to prominence. To say it lightly, from what's been shown on the single, I can only imagine a much cleaner, less slamming sound will emerge on the LP. Yet, that is only a guess; all sorts of secrets and mysteries lie in the future wake of this band.

But, enough talking about these guys. It's time for you to discover them on your own. An embedded link to their Soundcloud page is located below, and I will add links for you guys to follow these guys below. Check them out, give them a listen, and definitely be on the lookout for a review of their debut LP once I'm able to get my grubby little paws on it.

But, I shall leave you off with a final quote offered to me from rehab, which follows:
"if you were to have found what you were looking for, would you even know what to do with it?"

Follow Human Traffic:
https://soundcloud.com/humanxtraffic
https://www.facebook.com/HUMANxTRAFFIC
https://instagram.com/humanxtraffic/
http://humanxtraffic.tumblr.com/
http://humantraffic.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/humanxtraffic

Also, here's the link to the full interview with YOUTH1984 that I quoted:
http://youth1984.tumblr.com/post/112772203002/hum-n-r-ffic-interview-eng-rus