Rotterdam’s Library Card Release New Single ‘Sunflowers’
Cities hoping to catalyse a burgeoning music scene might find it useful to examine what’s in the water of the Maas, the river running through Rotterdam. Home of wayward bands such as Tramhaus, Iguana Death Cult and The Sweet Release of Death as well as Left of the Dial Festival, the Dutch port city has once more launched an exciting and distinctive newcomer in the form of Library Card.
With the release of their second single ‘Sunflowers’, Library Card establish themselves as a band who fit Rotterdam’s current post-punk and noise rock climate, but also a collective who sound a bit different from their peers. ‘Sunflowers’, being a relatively poppy cut compared to Library Card’s debut single ‘Mirror Factory’ and fierce live offering ‘Residual Heat’, showcases the band’s range, from sardonic spoken word on starting smoking again and hoping to never land another job, to soaring guitars and repetitive rhythms. Library Card, who supported the likes of Just Mustard and Sports Team last year, suit the recent wave of British Sprechgesang post-punk, but in a way that is authentic and entirely their own.
The four-piece’s versatility and individuality may stem from the fact that we are indeed dealing with four individuals here. In a way that feels comparable to bands like Protomartyr and even Big Thief, Library Card seems like a band in which all members could have easily been in completely different bands – they actually are, with members featuring or having featured in the formidable noise pop outfit Neighbours Burning Neighbours, alt folk band Nagasaki Swim and hypnotising nihilists The Lumes. In the end, however, the sense of a tight-knit unit appreciating their differences as the foundation for their friendship and musical partnership prevails.
Library Card, then, are a band who allow themselves, others and circumstances to just come as they are. There’s no need for a hasty breakthrough, making music and art that feels urgent and meaningful with your allies is paramount. This idea is mirrored in ‘Sunflowers’, explains singer Lot van Teylingen, whose drawings feature in the song’s animation video by bassist Kat Kalkman. “We keep rushing through life, trying our very best to keep up with everything and everyone, feeding into our conditioned ambition and internalised capitalism, but because we try to do everything all at once, nothing really gets done. Nothing is in our control, nothing will happen the way you intend it to happen, nothing is set in stone. It’s okay. It is what it is.”
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