Music Existence Because of Music, We Exist
A chest-pounding drumbeat is presented in a half-quiet tone. An angsty vocal dispenses one passionate verse after another. Strings that slip through our speakers and wash everything in an endlessly cathartic melody. This is “Def Cons,” the latest single from Codefendants, and it’s got the attention of critics from one coast to the next this spring thanks to its rock-solid rhythm, one-of-a-kind vocal harmonies, and supremely sharp-witted lyrics.
“Def Cons” isn’t the most inventive look that we’ve ever seen from Codefendants, and I don’t think that it’s going to provoke a new movement among the American punk underground – but that said, this song has got an unbeatable energy that you’d be hard-pressed anywhere else this spring. Indie songs tend to draw extreme emotional responses from people, whether they be classics out of the LA underground c. 1980 or modern hits that amount to crossovers a lot more often than not, and in this sense, “Def Cons” is no different. It demands a reaction out of anyone within earshot of its righteous swagger, and while it doesn’t reinvent the familiar indie model, it gives it a postmodern twist that is dazzling, to say the least.
There are a lot of styles in play here, and it doesn’t take an advanced degree in fine arts to pick up on the diversity of Codefendants’ influences in this single at all. The strings are sporting a slight reggae feel, while the poetry occupying the verses is straight out of the conventional punk rock playbook. The vocal, of course, is as punk-clad as they come, but there’s a decidedly moderate swing to their execution that makes the song feel a lot more authentic and off the cuff than similarly stylized material from their closest rivals in the mainstream has in the last couple of years.
There’s no debate as to whether or not this act is a student of American punk songcraft, but there’s also never a point in “Def Cons” where all of these different elements clash or become fragmented as they would in a halfhearted experimental hybrid. Codefendants know who they are, and perhaps more crucially than even that, the precise kind of music that they want to be known for, which isn’t something that I can say for a lot of the artists in their scene right now.
After decades of acclaim and applause from across the underground in different incarnations of this sound, Codefendants are not showing signs of slowing down anytime soon in their most recent studio effort, which is potentially one of their sleekest and most well-rounded compositions to see widespread, international release in the last few years. “Def Cons” has all of the right ingredients to satisfy listeners who have been craving something a little different in their punk this season, and if it’s any indication of what we can anticipate hearing in the next few years from this act, then it’s difficult for me to imagine a band like Codefendants not remaining a cult favorite for very much longer.
Erica Ainge
