Swiss trio Velvet Two Stripes share their new single ‘This House Is Built on Sand’. Taken from their new album ‘Sugar Honey Iced Tea’ (promoted with the catchy and frankly amazing slogan ‘Velvet Two Stripes don’t give a Sugar Honey Iced Tea’) the album is a true demonstration of the bands skills of songwriters, their impeccable ability as musicians and their ever fluorescent, inventive musical ideas.
Opening with a foreboding banjo line which conjures images of a Tarantino directed Western, ‘This House Is Built on Sand’ soon opens out into a swaying blues rock verse packed with suspense. Coupled with the Patti Smith-esque, raspy vocal deliver of the lead vocals, the band create a haunting soundscape as the track builds towards its thunderous guitar solo at the 2.30 mark where the track bursts into a frenzied explosion of distorted rock. With a scrunched up face inducing, dirty and beautiful fuzzy guitar tone closing out the track, this is not only an exciting, moody piece of music in itself but also an advert for going to see the band live.
Speaking about the song, Velvet Two Stripes said: “It is probably one of our most socially critical songs. It stands for the fragility of our society and shows the shaky foundations on which it is built.
The focus is on a relationship that is doomed to fail, be it between people or between people and nature. One still wants to have the relationship and tries to save it, even in impossible ways. In this way, the song also embodies a certain dystopia. The song seems very serious, honest and thus, to a certain extent, also self-critical.”
With an admirable DIY, punk ethos – wanting to things themselves with no need for label, for compromise, the trio have gained an array of tastemaker acclaim as well as continuous support from Spotify editorial playlists. A band full of spirit and artistic flair, Velvet Two Stripes are a trio with a fierce back catalogue and a lot of promise for the future.
Listen to the new single ‘This House Is Built on Sand’ below and remember, Velvet Two Stripes don’t give a Sugar Honey Iced Tea!
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