Premiere: White Beast Smolder With Indifference In “So It Goes”
Fire plays a recurring role in the visual aesthetic of noise-punk duo White Beast. Across their music videos, it manifests as blazes, bonfires, pyres, and even embers, reflecting the destructive themes within each song. In “Fencewalker,” it starts the deterioration of an idyllic portrait shown on-screen. In “Branded,” it subtly steers the spastic mania, manifesting in the backdrop via clips of falling bombs and incinerating skeletons (à la T2: Judgment Day). In “The Richest Land On Earth,” it serves as a warning, marking the peak of a ruinous path. And in “Servant,” it stokes the frenzy, making the ensuing chaos feel both deliberate and unrestrained.
This motif is noticeable in the band’s music as well, whether as a precursor (“I’ve soaked all my clothes in kerosene” from “Lifetime 2020”) or as a declaration (“Blue State Trash Fire,” the lead-off song to the band’s debut EP). Fire consumes all within the world of White Beast, to the point that listeners can sense it even indirectly in their music–lying in wait, ready to enact carnage. Such is the case in “So It Goes,” the band’s latest single that melds detachment alongside inevitability, hinting at impending ruin in the same way as the “this is fine” meme, a wry response to crises that has become a staple of digital culture over the past decade. Out everywhere on Friday, March 14, this new song is a tempered invective on what the world has driven us to, where outrage has flamed out to the point that shrugs are now acceptable in the face of systematic downfall. Today, The Auricular is excited to premiere this new track, with an exclusive stream below as well as a further descent into its numb indignation.
Interestingly, the “this is fine” meme is only the first two panels of a 2013 comic strip, with the full version being even more harrowing and topical. “I’m okay with the events that are unfolding currently,” the smiling dog reassures himself as he sips from his coffee mug. As he swallows and places the cup back down, his body begins to melt, yet he placates the agony with one final, hollow assurance before fully dissolving in the final panel: “That’s okay, things are going to be okay.” “So It Goes” feels tailor-made for this scenario, with the song’s second verse summing up its lyrical intent perfectly: “Oh I guess for me\ Everything is fine\ Well I had my doubts\ But it all worked out.”
The tone of the song matches this as well, reverting from the typical distortion-heavy eruptions the band is known for into a familiar alternative pulse–quiet in the verse, loud in the chorus–like trying to suppress a spasm, only for it to twitch even more forcibly than if left unchecked. It’s not an unheard-of style for the band, matching the introduction tone of “The Richest Land On Earth” (a song that “So It Goes” points back to in its opening lyric), yet the execution here feels distinct, with the fire of outrage being extinguished just as the sparks of destruction begin. This plays out in the aloof lyrical approach in the beginning, artistically vague but also personally indifferent, as well as the more ominous closing verse, which finds some humanity and comfort in the face of what can only be described as “the end.”
Despite its detached tone, the song is rich with lyrical depth, like a nod to Anthropocene, a proposed new epoch to follow the Holocene that signifies humanity’s impact on the planet through climate change and mass extinction. This line adds a layer of environmental warning, though it’s still impossible to not hear other current events playing out in the lyrics. As America returns to its imperialistic and colonial roots, it feels like a sky full of bombs is on the horizon, devastation so grim that it cracks the narrator’s dazed facade in the last moments of “So It Goes,” ending the song with empathy as well as resignation.
“So It Goes” is the second single from White Beast’s forthcoming EP, Home Alone, set for release on April 11th via Sockhead Records, the band’s second release on the label after 2023’s Demons. Both songs point to a sound that is as politically dire as their tremendous 2022 record, Suffering Time, showing that no matter what, White Beast has kept the fire burning for change within their music. Though it shifts in form and intensity, it never loses its potency, continuing to serve as an essential guide through today’s volatile landscape.
“So It Goes” is set to be released on all streaming platforms on Friday, March 14. The same day, the band performs at Bandito’s alongside Dumb Waiter, Ken Mujo, and Velvet Ruin. For more details, check out the concert flyer below.
