Can’t stop me now.

Almost unbearably awesome.

I’ve long said Bob Rifo and The Bloody Beetroots are the last remnants of punk. And when I say punk I’m not talking about lyrics indecipherably screamed over three-chord progressions for two-minute-long songs (although there’s a lot of screaming from Refused’s Dennis Lyxzen on this track), and I’m not talking about whatever people misinterpreted for punk in the 90s.

The Church Of Noise is brutal, energetic, inspiring, exciting. I will be seeing The Bloody Beetroots and the Church Of Noise live some time in 2012. Best believe. Long live punk rock.

Rifoki: Zombie Attack

Punk rock is dead, right? Of course it is, but what exactly is punk rock? More than sound, it’s attitude. It wasn’t just the disheveled grit of “Search and Destroy” that made The Stooges punk rock, it was Iggy Pop’s devilish swagger and on / off stage antics. Andy Warhol’s persona and timeless soundbites are what earned him the title. Bob Rifo, the venom-masked, multi-instrumentalist better known as The Bloody Beetroots is punk rock and, as far as I’m concerned, one of the last remnants. As The Bloody Beetroots and now Rifoki, his hardcore outing with electro veteran, Steve Aoki, Rifo is defying boundaries, redefining genres, and making art of everything he does.


Bob Rifo, photographed by Jo Henker.

I’m legitimately sorry if you missed the US portion of Rifo’s Death Crew 77 tour. Musically, it was violent, mesmerizing and, at times, downright gorgeous. More than live interpretations of the Beetroots catalog, there were surprising classical moments and, of course, there was also the brutal immediacy that is the music Rifo performs as Rifoki. I don’t know if anything will come close to or be capable of topping that wrecking ball of ravishing mayhem for a very long time. Not even U2 in 360… whatever that is.

Let me guess, Spin magazine didn’t tell you about the Death Crew 77 tour, did they? Those shows were packed, a lot of them sold out. Predictable, old Pitchfork didn’t tell you either? They were too busy swooning over the next Arcade Fire album? How boring.

When everyone realizes electronic music is bigger than Daft Punk and Justice, has moved far beyond glow-sticks and ecstasy, and is influencing everything from rap to Top 40 pop, it will probably be too late. Sites like Pitchfork will look as pathetic as Perez Hilton trying to hype a group like The xx long after everyone else was on board. Electronic is the new punk rock; Bob Rifo, in all his forms, is punk rock. Long live The Bloody Beetroots, long live Death Crew 77, and long live Rifoki.


Rifoki: Steve Aoki + Bob Rifo, photographed by Rony Alwin.

SOURCES / LINKS:

The Bloody Beetroots | Death Crew 77 | Rifoki

Jo Henker Fotografie.

Rony Alwin Photography.