Felix Guattari and Gilles Deleuze, two European academics have proposed the notion that our existence, under advanced post-industrial capitalism, flows between two sets of structures, the rigid and the temporary. The rigid being school, work, family, marriage; the temporary being more fleeting moments such as affairs, friendships and the like. At times we float in liminality, or move along 'lines of flight' whereby we exist somewhere between the social defining of these structures. In is at these moments, and only in these 'structureless' moments that we are free. Unfortunately, for most of us these moments are few and far between so we find comfort in the limited freedoms of 'democracy' and the 'choice' of our subject position as consumer.

Techno is not often regarded as political with its lack of lyrics, its associated hedonistic culture, its predominantly 'whiteness', its masculine hardcore. Yet possibly it is indeed political for it has the ability to propel the listener headlong into a dance and drug-induced liminal state. Outside the structures of mainstream leisure, mainstream musicality, on an individual trip one can freely enjoy the ride.

Melbourne's Snog are probably more famous in Germany than here and no doubt the release of their second album, Dear Valued Customer will have the Germans writhing in adoration. Down here, though, a motley band of ravers, cyberpratts, 'grave digger dancing' goths, and a few grungers, will greet the album as something to hang on their shelf of musical credibility. Unfortunate this truly is for Snog are something quite strange to behold. Techno and overt politics, lyrics and 303 acid, clever samples and funky beats, all sit awkwardly with each other teasing the listener to pigeonhole them.

Beamed through a network of optic fibres, tangled wires and computer chips the voice of David Thrussell of Melbourne technofreaks Snog is announced to me by a friendly Telecom assistant, Rebecca. 'There's a Mr Thruster on the phone. Do you accept the call?'. David is very concerned about, what he terms, 'freedom' yet is this some sort of sleazy porn call or the voice of techno liberty? I wonder. Indeed even now, I still wonder. Caught in a liminal state and a little off guard, I accept the call.

David might be an incredibly witty gentleman but he is also very concerned not to mention a tad angry. Take their most recent single and album track, Cliche. 'This track was about linking advertising with mind control in the more overt CIA style hence on the video we used bits of a rumoured 1960s CIA working paper Silent Weapons For Quiet Wars which was about enslaving a large population to buy certain items'. Under a society so prevalent in advertising, and one in which advertising now creates your own very identity notions of 'choice and freedom' become meaningless. 'Freedom means economic freedom nowadays which is sad . . . almost all of us have this economic slavery forced upon us. I guess the 9 to 5 workers suffer the most because they are tied to a wage too . . . for most people its the only viable option but they have to eat . . I think we are trapped - you can kick and shove and get a little more freedom but not really much more . . . I have to make a certain number of records each year just to eat'. Politics are, to the individual members of Snog, integral and it is of little surprise that they are expressed so overtly in their music. 'I get annoyed when people say music and politics don't work because music is a form of communication and now almost all forms of communication have been stripped of politics because those who own the information have commodified these forms of communication and the information itself . . . it is an essential way of fighting back . .. music is one of the few remaining forms of communication accessible to average people and to say it cannot be political is both elitist and ridiculous . . .Not only do politics work. but they're vital. Drax and 3Phase might be instrumental but they have a political feeling in that they sounds nihilistic, pissed off and dark . . especially when you compare it with Triple M [and Triple J] and Phil Collins'

Flicking back over the press release for Dear Valued Customer it is clear that Snog are a little uncomfortable with their place in the capitalist machine. Full of nice quotes for all-too-eager journalists to pad their articles Snog must please their record company, Phonogram subsidiary Id, with lines like 'Snog is the orchestrated realisation of the Consumerist ideal', 'Originality is for artists, Snog are manufacturers' and 'While cynicism remains fashionable, Snog will remain cynical'.

But are these all lies. Snog might be signed to a major label but really this is just to satisfy their ever-growing commodity fetishes. David boasts gleefully 'I pulled the greatest scam the other day. I convinced Polygram to take me record shopping to the tune of $600 . . . I feel good' - perhaps this is why CDs are going up in price. More positively for us, Snog ensures that their CD singles are more like albums at 72 minutes each, their albums have extra bonus CDs attached, and their videos are extravagant.

Snog are here to educate, inform, challenge and subvert.

'I don't have any unrealistic expectations of our music. I'd love it if people went and burned down the TV stations and Parliament House but if I look at myself, music was a great influence on my life during my formative years and if Snog reflects what is going on in 1994 then I think its successful . . . I hear 2 Unlimited and Reel 2 Reel and they could be made on Jupiter because they have nothing to say or tell me about the world around me . . I think its about letting the listener know that they're not alone'. There is a situation where 'civil rights and individual freedoms seem to be eroded all around the world . . . interestingly mainly in the so-called Western democracies . . . and the product of the TV stations is incredibly right wing but this is a result of naivety and bombardment with particular assumptions rather than an overt conspiracy'. And Snog demands action if only through critical thought. 'Gareth Evans [the foreign minister who, amongst other fatal flaws, fails to act on East Timor yet talks of human rights] is a prime target for assassination in my mind . . . indeed why stop there . . . humanity in general would be better off without the government. I'm not an anarchist because I feel that's what we've got now with Kerry Packer and Murdoch and the rest governing us with their own ëautonomous economic collectives' . . . perhaps more appropriate is the socialist notion of economy with wealth being shared . . . because, to a certain degree, racism, sexism and poverty have a distinct relation to the overriding power structure'. To this end Snog wishes 'Australia was a bit more politically active. We're a bit sleepy. [The superpowers] give us a bit of space . . . so we lie down.'

This week Snog ventures up to tour Sydney and Newcastle. Surely this is just a cynical marketing ploy to lure dollars from the disillusioned public? 'Live people want to ëMove It Move It' and that is what works for us and the crowd . . pumping rhythms . . . but we have also done other stuff [for example the sublime ambient terror of Black Lung both on album and live at a Melbourne gallery installation] it is just that it does not really work that well to a sweaty crowd'. Politically dancing has been recognised as a potentially subversive force since prehistoric times. Christianity and now capitalism have sought to regulate and control bodily expression to such a degree that we now predominantly communicate in Western society through disembodied voices and electronic channels devoid of bodily expression. Dance has been formalised and regulated, too. David agrees, 'dancing, if its not a product of awkward inebriation, is political because our society wants to alienate us from the pleasures of our bodies so dancing is a kind of statement.'

Snog are quite foreign to local DJs in the so-called rave scene and this is perhaps because of their reluctance to release their material on vinyl. 'Our tracks are on vinyl in Europe in limited quantities but vinyl is a dinosaur. A CD single is the same price as a white label . . . and I feel DJs monopolise vinyl as a sort of conservative in house DJ club thing. I don't like to DJ with it, play or sample from it. I'm pretty glad its on its way out. CDs cost the same to make as vinyl now . . . all the Drax singles have been released on CD single now and they are not distributed by a major. Vinyl is no more organic than CD . . . and some people in Melbourne have just bought a home CD burner so they can press their own small white label CDs in a run of fifty so the whole argument that you have to go to the majors and sell your soul is rubbish. Once upon a time the only people who owned vinyl pressing plants were the majors. Its just a format change.'

Snog want you to change. They want themselves to change. They want to be free. They want you to be free. The question is, are you a valued customer?

Yellow Peril

Goto Snarl Texts Index Pages