The recording project of Californian duo Zackary Kiebach and Arden Klawitter, Talk, Tired Thanatoid practises a lively brand of pop-punk that is coloured further by elements of math rock and indie pop. This all supports Kiebach’s detailed and inventive songwriting, which is chock full of references and playful turns yet retains a fundamentally sincere tone.
The band’s second album, Internet Connection came to life slowly, starting out as a split single back in 2016 when the pair were themselves split between northern and southern California. In the intervening time, Kiebach graduated college and moved back south, and they set to re-recording the songs with added maturity and post-college perspective, and the album was gradually born. As suggested above, the record toes the line between emotional connection and energetic release, the cathartic tempo matched by an earnest simplicity that seems sensitive to the difficulties of young adult life. Though the tenderness could sometimes be described as twee, the writing is clever and intelligent enough to avoid any accusations mawkishness, and tracks such as ‘Internet Animal Celebrity’ push through into a fully surreal territory (“I wish I was an internet animal celebrity” being the only, oft-repeated line in the song).
Opener ‘Dog Body’ offers the first taste of the vulnerability Kiebach presents in his writing, pushing the uniquely naive purity of one’s relationship with their pet in a way that brings to mind Jon Raymond’s Wendy and Lucy. “I miss my dog,” he sings, in a way that has you believing every word. “Hope someone takes him on a walk / We’ll walk into the San Francisco fog.” ‘Everything’s Cool’ offers a picture just as innocent, the lyrics painting a friendship whose depth is left unsaid in the way of the strongest bonds, while ‘I Hit a Car’ switches to a kind of drifting loneliness, where isolation approaches like a far-off storm, though one too vast to outrun.
“The forth of July
Friends getting high
I’m alone my room
Red solo cups and cigarettes
I think that I’m kind of a mess
I guess that’s just what I’m going to doIf I can’t hang out with you”
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‘Re: Nervousness’ pares things down, returning to simplicity in the hope of finding peace, while ‘Hospital Gown’ operates according to the same kind of ideal. Finding a loved one ill and confined to bed, the track focuses on the small details of the moment rather than the wider implications, allowing for a quietly devastating exploration of fear and grief where no grand answers are available, but small kindnesses carry the highest of value.
A similar relationship is found on ‘Everything’s Alright’, where outside forces (and some internal ones too) conspire to make life difficult, and platitudes are held as the last defence. “Your house is ninety-five degrees,” Kiebach sings, “I just get so anxious,” and there is nothing to say or do about it beside the most obvious attempts at comfort. “And when you’re feeling kind of down you’ll say / Everything’s alright.” ‘Skin Topography’ follows the anxiety further: the nausea and agoraphobic terror, the guilt and embarrassment, the desperate need to move on and the failed communication that makes it so difficult to do so.
“So take my hands and try to read skin topography
Fucked up over these palms
Tattoo these lines back into curves
Don’t care if it hurts
I’m done feeling like thisCan’t tell you what’s been going on
Can’t tell you anything
You think too much”
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So, while the music of Talk, Tired Thanatoid might appear twee, below the surface lies something far deeper and more valuable. Indeed, the playful dimension is intrinsic to the exploration of things, allowing the band to touch upon themes such as loss and mental suffering with subtly and humanity. But also, it is the very thing we turn to when faced with such issues. Sometimes, no amount of big-scale advice or philosophising can help. Sometimes, it is the small acts of compassion and generosity that count.
Internet Connection is out now and you can get it digitally from the Talk, Tired Thanatoid Bandcamp or on cassette via Pacific Nature Records.