Jan 14, 2021
Adam and Ben are joined by Lias Saoudi, the lead singer of the
most exciting rock n' roll band still in existence (that is less
than 30 years old), The Fat White Family. While rock n' roll has
hit its dinosaur phase, with bands seeming to opt into the binary
choice of abject commercialist conformism or subterranean
underground nigh nonexistence, The Fat Whites are a stark reminder
of the rebellious, confrontational, and provocative soul of rock
music. Lias, a brilliant writer and unhinged performer, is in the
lineage of naughty rock n' roll wordsmiths: Lou Reed, Mark E.
Smith, Nick Cave. Yes, he's that fucking good. Adam first saw the
Fat Whites play in 2014 after getting excited hearing the group's
debut album 'Champagne Holocaust.' Crouched in at the Bowery
Ballroom, he stood at the front of the crowd and watched the band
perform an extended intro of its psychedelic punk anthem "Auto
Neutron" that upon entering into its first verse exploded in
libidinal catharsis. Lias, shrieking the lyrics and screaming with
reckless abandon, had his cock out half way into that first song.
With this, Adam was sure that he felt what people must have felt
when seeing Nick Cave and the Birthday Party in the early days, or
what people must have felt watching Suicide in the '70s: shocked,
appalled, and thrilled. Joyous and based. Viva rock n' roll.
Adam has corresponded with Lias in the past. He interviewed him for
Autre Magazine upon the FWF's second album 'Songs to our Mothers,'
and once photographed in Brooklyn at a show for Lias' other band,
The Moonlandingz, which got shelved (unfortunately). We got in
touch with Lias to praise his pandemic conceptualized column for
The Social that eviscerated shitty, woketard post-punk band Idles
for their fake working class affectations and their American NGO
created "activism," to talk about the transitions in his politics,
the nature of rock n' roll, writing, art, all our hits basically.
Enjoy!
Links: Lias on Idles: https://www.thesocial.com/life-beyond-the-neutral-zone-8-lias-saoudi/
Lias on Schopenhauer: https://www.thesocial.com/life-beyond-the-neutral-zone-lias-saoudi/
Lias on art criticism and Dylan's new record: https://www.thesocial.com/life-beyond-the-neutral-zone-11-lias-saoudi/
Adam interviews Lias in 2016 (when we were so hopeful about this Bernie/Corbyn thing): https://autre.love/interviewsmain/tag/fat+white+family
Lias' cultural touchstones: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/mar/18/on-my-radar-lias-saoudi-musician-interview-bock
Lias interview in Vogue: https://www.vogue.com/article/fat-white-family-band-interview-lias-saoudi