New York, NY (Top40 Charts) New Zealand rock outfit
System Corporation are releasing their debut single 'Dismal Universal Hiss' well ahead of their debut album 'Fiction Dept.', slated for release in late 2017.
System Corporation began in 2011, based on a conversation between Phil Somervell (The Datsuns) and their long standing engineer Scott Newth about swapping demos. The two were sharing a flat in Stockholm while The
Datsuns were working on their fifth album 'Death Rattle Boogie'.
Scott began work on producing the demos, cutting them up, rearranging them, and adding vocals. They became a trio when they enlisted fellow Datsuns' bandmate Ben Cole (also from The Joint Chiefs) on drums, and then evolved into a five-piece when Scott started working on his own demos for the project, finally enlisting his brothers and bandmates Andrew and Kent Newth (Rumpus Room) to help flesh them out. However, the original trio ended up collaborating on a number of new songs, giving
System Corporation two distinct songwriting avenues.
While most of the band's production work happens in Hamilton, they hail from Thames (Phil), Hamilton (Andrew, Scott and Kent) and Wellington (Ben). The members cite numerous influences, including The Rolling Stones, John Dwyer (Thee Oh Sees), Ty Segall, Sonic Youth, The
Clash and The Stone Roses, and New Zealand's The Subliminals. Scott Newth takes particular inspiration from both music that is "beautifully calculated" and, at the opposite end of that, "beautifully uncontrolled".
The name
System Corporation is a vague translation of Systembolaget, a government-owned and operated liquor store chain in Sweden. What is more interesting than the fact that both the project and its name were born in Sweden is that, through Systembolaget, the government is able to effectively control alcohol sales and identify problem areas in order to divert profits back into social services.
System Corporation is an ironically corporate name for an organization promoting such a socialist ethos.
The band's debut single 'Dismal Universal Hiss' could easily have been written about the rise of Trump or Brexit. But it wasn't - it was written at the time of the Occupy Wall Street movement and the rise of the so-called 99%, mass protests, and rallying against a broken system that creates ill-gotten wealth and sucks it into a vacuum unattainable by the mere masses.
"The song is about the futility of the situation we are in. That even when you vote for change, when you vote in a non-politician like Trump or John Key in NZ, you end up getting more of the same, or in these cases, things get a lot worse for the poorer end of society," explains Scott Newth. "It also has hints of hope that, one day, real change might happen, while touching on the futility of protest movements like Occupy Wall St, that in the end, changed very little."
Dismal Universal Hiss will be released on April 28 and will be made available via usual online platforms, but can already be ordered through the band's Bandcamp.
CREDITS
Performed by
System Corporation
Phil Somervell: Bass, Guitar, Keys
Scott Newth: Vocals
Andrew Newth: Guitar
Kent Newth: Guitar
Ben Cole: Drums
Written and recorded by Scott Newth and Phil Somervell
Produced by Scott Newth
LYRICS
All the little people
holding up their little signs
in their little countries
All the little ideas
floating in the ether
but no one sees the bigger picture
All the little urchins
digging in the piles we make
of things we took for granted
You can look up high to the ivory towers
but what a waste of time
no ones coming down
To see you
To help you
To wait on you
To feed you
To bring you up
To teach you
To tell you what to do
All the little people
holding up their little hands
for a grasp at power
Making promises
they will never keep
while they pursue their own agenda
Making money go round
while they take their cut
sell back to you what you already own
You can look up high to the ivory towers
but what a waste of time
no ones coming down
If you put your ear to the ground
you can hear all the
sorry little people
The dismal universal hiss
of the discontented
talking in a whisper
All these little voices
making little noises
its simmers now but will come to the boil
You can look up high to the ivory towers
but what a waste of time
no ones coming down
To see you
To help you
To wait on you
To feed you
To bring you up
To teach you
To tell you what to do
