Humour and music sometimes struggle to pair well. Too often music that has a keen comedic streak can be perceived as campy, throwaway or at worst, novelty, leading to dismissal on the grounds of it not being ‘serious’ art. This is utter nonsense in every degree as humour can be an incredible vehicle for affecting, insightful or simply fun art. A quick look at Randy Newman, Ween or even Country Teasers note this easily.
London’s Omertà follow this lineage keenly and with the release of their debut single, ‘Gay Hitler’, convey the joy in absurdity, chaos and tongue-in-cheek provocation. ‘Gay Hitler’ was written following the band’s discovery of a meme that revealed the existence of an American dentist called Dr. Gay Hitler. Gay Hitler himself was born in 1882 in Ohio and went on to outlive his infamous namesake, dying in 1948 before being reincarnated as a meme two years ago and a fierce, inane slice of garage-inflected art-punk today.
Fizzy and acerbic, ‘Gay Hitler’ is the sonic equivalent of pouring apple-cider vinegar into your eyeballs to treat gastric trouble. Manic yawps bark over tattoo-gun guitars and Flash game synths while spidery basslines and amphetamine drums contort like a perverted round of Twister. Biting, hare-brained and incomprehensibly catchy, Omertà are a noxious breath of fresh air in a grey landscape of overwrought earnestness and performative sentimentality.
Photo by Isaac Fisher
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