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An Outsider’s Perspective: The Darkly Compelling ‘Scream Quietly’ From Revolution Above Disorder

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Dec 20, 2021 #post punk
Stephen Nicholas White of Revolution Above DisorderStephen Nicholas White of Revolution Above Disorder

By Keith Walsh
A new cover by Canada’s Revolution Above Disorder of a Television Personalities song from 1982, “Scream Quietly” is a simmering track that conveys despair, with minimalist instrumentation and only 15 lyrical lines. Vocally it’s haunting, and instrumentally, darkly compelling. From a production standpoint, the heavy reverb, solemn bass and electric guitar (and drums by Adam Fink of ACTORS) add to the illusion.

Frontman Stephen Nicholas White performs the bass, guitar and synth, each instrumental delicately arranged and orchestrated. Like RAD’s previous release, the EP Illuminate, the tune was recorded at Vancouver BC’s Jackknife Sound, and produced by Jason Corbett of ACTORS.

The lyrics are a devastating portrayal of domestic abuse:
“Someone stole her dream today/She’d saved it for a rainy day/
Scream quietly, or the neighbors will hear”

(From ‘Scream Quietly’)

There’s a lot of history about this single. Television Personalities are a post-punk band formed in 1977 in London, and are still going strong with Dan Treacy at the helm. Revolution Above Disorder frontman Nicholas-White is also a member of The Orange Kyte, House Of Dolls, and Magic Shoppe. He is based in Vancouver, Canada, where he settled after leaving Dublin, Ireland.

As Nicholas-White put it: “The lofi outsider-art indie-pop of Dan Treacy’s Television Personalities occupies a place in my heart all of its own. Stylistically all over the map, Treacy’s four decades (and counting) of off-kilter demonstrations of punk and psychedelia are held together by the emotional depth of the songwriting and the vocal delivery, which sees Treacy careering unconstrained from acerbic, to playfully whimsical, to heartbroken and vulnerable. Beautiful.”

This single originally appeared on the Television Personalities tribute album, Mummy, Mummy, Please Look At Me – A Tribute To The Television Personalities, On Dandy Boy Records.

“Illuminate” by Revolution Above Disorder, Released September 2021.

(Photo by Analissa Longoria.)

Revolution Above Disorder On Bandcamp
Revolution Above Disorder On Spotify
Revolution Above Disorder Links
ACTORS On Bandcamp

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By admin

Keith Walsh is a writer based in Southern California, where he lives and breathes music, visual art, theater, and film.