Fearing – “Black Sand”

Post-punk’s many forms have been unearthed, re-examined, and reimagined by every generation since it sprouted from the fertile groundwork laid by late 70’s punk rock, but its ubiquity doesn’t mean it’s easy to describe. Like jazz, post-punk is more of an approach to music-making than a specific sound, which allows it to absorb everything and produce infinite variations of itself. However, post-punk’s unifying thread isn’t necessarily “musical” like jazz and improvisation, it’s an attitude.

Given the general malaise one feels after a moment’s reflection on humanity’s current trajectory, it makes sense why many of us are attracted to post-punk’s disaffection and defiance. Appropriate for the times, Oakland, CA’s Fearing has set a new bar for bleak evoking abyssal scenes of inky skies and beachfront desolation on their 2017 single “Black Sand.”