Doom-pop from Downtown L. A.
Saccharine-sweet melodies, catchy singalongs and apocalyptical discordant guitars converge to a – one must admit – typical US-type post-punk bombast. Honest lyrics sang by great baritone Neil Popkins satisfy all the lost New Wave-souls out there, yet WAR TAPES has an extremely modern, contemporary Pop-edge to it, almost crossing the border to more mainstream – type acts.
With „Continental Divide“ WAR TAPES manage to get the attention of a more mainstream orientated audience, but they also keep the more stubborn, conservative post-punk fans like me listening with delight.
I asked singer Neil Popkins from WAR TAPES two short questions.
Neil, one of my favorite songs on „Continental Divide“ is “dreaming of you”. Is there a story behind that song you want to share?
It’s about living out a romantic fantasy in your life solely in a dream world. Not caring about reality only because the more you dream the more it becomes a reality. You would rather sleep your life away then deal with the fact that the moment has passed ages ago and it is out of your reach.
Which bands of the Post Punk-era had the biggest influen
ce on you and why?
THE CURE, I love how prolific they have been over the years even their new material is equally as important as their early years. The first time I heard “Boys don’t cry” I was immediately in love with their music.
JOY DIVISION, I love the romanticized story behind the band how picturesque and utterly heart breaking their demise with Ian Curtis’s suicide which led to the legend surrounding the band and the man. It’s a terrible tradgedy but it needed to happen in order for the world to unfold the way it did. They paved the way for the underground.
Support the band and get WAR TAPES “Continental Divide” here !
