QWAM

IDC [7-inch] (2022)

John Gentile

One of QWAM’s strongest angles has always been their brand of sunny nihilism. Take the A-side of their new single: “IDC” aka “I don’t care” lists a bunch of nice things in the world, birds, bees, etc, and then declares “I don’t care!” But, whereas less deft artists might make the track and straight on rager, QWAM is clever, and humorous, enough to make it a bouncy track that has the same zip as classic B-52s. In fact, the song is so tightly crafted, that it is sort of an evil version of “my favorite things.” That is, the band lists iconic symbols of “life is good” and spits on them… all while smiling. It helps that singer Felicia Lobo has a powerful, but sunny voice and it also help that the band rocks, but they can clean-strike as well. And of course, the great hook of the track is that after the band lists a bunch of standard “nice” symbolism, the band snaps, “I don’t care about you… or about me.” It’s rough one someone tells you that they don’t care about you, but it’s rougher when it’s delivered with a smile. Now that’s good and mean art, baby.

Flipside, “Little Bliss,” is the art-ier response to the classic songcraft of the A-side. Again, the track details mental destruction “I can’t keep going on like this.” In lieu of the other side’s bunch, this track walks between classic punk snapping and grunge crunching. Despite the grimier vibe, the band still keeps their rosy appearances at the top, which really, is one of the things that makes them so great. Agression would scream at you that world was ending with a scowl, whereas Jello and the DKs would say pretty much the same thing, but with a smile and a laugh. If you can see the difference between those two approaches, you can see why QWAM is so clever. I have high hopes for their second LP…