Designer Violence - We Gave Peace A Chance (2023) Hi Res

Dutch electronic punk duo Designer Violence are back with their second album, We Gave Peace A Chance, self-released on February 4th, 2023.

When we last heard Designer Violence on Televised State Lies, they were using their churning machine music to explore the political and social ramifications of the pandemic era, while still looking inward on tracks like Head Trauma. On We Gave Peace A Chance, the duo's second full-length album, there's no more holding back or navel-gazing, and as such the duo sound at their most confident yet.

From the opening churns of "The Rapture", through the post-punk melancholia of "Passerby" and the danceable electro-rock of "Tijdlijn", to the industrial metal blast of "Fade Away", the band continually manages to redefine themselves, while lyrically challenging the notion that keeping the peace is more important than standing up for oneself. When the peace you're asked to keep is negative, and finds you on the receiving end of injustice, then said peace is not worth keeping. Why keep the peace with people who despise you for who you are? Why keep the peace when those same people would rather see you suffer? Why listen to John Lennon's call for peace and love when you're allowed neither peace nor love?

Designer Violence gave peace a chance, and they've turned their struggle into a call to empowerment. Their emotional turmoil has been transformed into musical weapons of harsh noise and blistering electropunk. Their sound has evolved, too. Armed with not only their arsenal of samplers and synths, but also newly added bass and baritone guitars, the band nods to their forebears in the electronic and post-punk scenes while still confidently looking forward at the future.