Shit Present’s second EP is another blisteringly honest release from the DIY, punk rock supergroup. More introspective and downbeat than their self-titled debut, ‘Misery + Disaster’ uses its pop influences to drag itself above the quagmire of depression and make something positive from the murkiness of mental health.
Shit Present’s debut balanced upbeat pop music and honest lyrical accountability, but still found ways to get uncomfortably upfront about Cairns’ experiences, and ‘Misery + Disaster’ delves deeper into her personality and introspection. The opening declaration that “maybe all the standards that I set, were all inside my head” on upbeat ‘The Line’ lets us into some of Cairns’ inner trauma.
Cairns is unafraid to lay her vulnerabilities out in the open, but instead of appearing weak, is buoyed along by her backing band. Made up of members and ex-members of veteran punk bands Gnarwolves, The Computers and The Smith Street Band, Shit Present’s style of catchy pop punk allows songs like ‘Shit Talk’ and ‘Evil Way’ to worm their catchy melodies into your head, providing a counterweight to Cairns’ lyrics. The record never becomes lyrically overbearing and trauma becomes a release. There’s a catharsis in using music as an escape.
This catharsis reaches a crescendo on ‘House (Breakdown)’. With statements like “did the doctor say you lacked some chemicals, did he write you up something to make you feel less terrible?” Cairns explores whether something is formulaically wrong, finding herself alienated among friends, family and neighbours who are complaining that the radio is too loud. All of this leads to the infectious chorus of “breakdown, breakdown, nothing can save me now, I just smash it all up and let it out”.
Ultimately empowering, without skirting around the trauma Cairns is feeling, ‘House (Breakdown)’ focuses the record, ready for closer ‘Against The World!’ A cross between Courtney Barnett and a Wonder Years ballad, Cairns rails at “all of these white men in white rooms, thinking of the ways to tailor you,” as if she is a problem to be fixed. It’s after realising that some of her problems are external, wondering “why won’t you tell me the truth… why won’t you talk about what upsets you?” that a resolution begins to emerge.
Shit Present end ‘Misery + Disaster’ as they started: still a bit fractured, still uncomfortable, but with a sense that fighting back means getting out of your head. While it’s sometimes a difficult record to listen to lyrically, its musical skill and raw honesty provide a balance on the tightrope between introspection and optimism.
MATTHEW WILSON