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Music

Meet The World, a Bay Area Post-Punk Funk Band That Loves Saxophones

Led by a double-saxophone attack, the rising stars of the Bay Area punk scene are set to release their debut record.

Image by David Armstrong

This article originally appeared on Noisey Australia.

“Managerial Material”, the title track from The World's debut seven-inch EP bounces with double saxophone, jittery and funky bass, and clipped vocals that bring to mind Su Tissue from cult 80s LA band Suburban Lawns. At times it comes with the fun house party vibe of early B-52s. Grace Ambrose, content coordinator of Maximum Rocknroll magazine, knows more about fidgety punk than most. She describes the band as such: “The World’s a post-punk band, sure, but they’re also a dance group, a wild and revolutionary art collective, sounds from the past catapulted to the future.”

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Featuring Bay Area power pop/garage rock luminary Andy Human, and the saxophones of Alexa Pantalone and Stanley Martinez the five-pice certainly bring a loose and good sense of fun. After a couple of demos and a rising live reputation, the band are set to release their debut through UK label Upset The Rhythm on April 1.

Listen to “Managerial Material” below and read a quick interview we had with the band.

Noisey: I can hear 70s New York No Wave bands but also the Oil Tasters and the pop of fellow Bay Area band Romeo Void.
Amber Sermeno: I like that that's what comes to mind! But honestly, I didn't have a set idea or influence. There are things that I pick from, sure. Which what surfaces never truly ends up sounding like the source. Those being anarcho punk, dub, and funk mainly. I'm just happy if whatever bass line I come up with is carried into sounding like a real song when I present it to my band mates. That and I just wanted to make people dance.

Andy Human: Hmm… sax bands. Yeah, I don't think we're that influenced by sax bands, really. I never would have thought Romeo Void. I grew up with that song playing on the radio all the time, it probably influenced my early perceptions of human sexuality…

You guys come from a more straight punk, garage backgrounds. What has the reaction been to the band so far?
Andy: The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. Maybe coming from a rock n roll and punk background means that, even though the music is repetitive and reductionist in form and texture, it's very song-oriented. We're a dance band with short songs, so that's punk right?

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One track, “It Takes 2” is also the name of Stanley and Alexa’s new label. Does it have any particular meaning?
Amber: I can't speak for the label but I know that Alexa and Stanley are super chill. They were having trouble figuring out a name and Andy was like "How about It Takes 2"? And they were like "Yeah that sound cool." The song is a little ambiguous I guess. It's kind of about coupledom and/or trite polite encounters, stagnation.

Alexa Pantalone: Yeah we were thinking of something for a while… We have been wanting to do the label for a long time but it is finally coming to life with the World seven-inch as the first release. Since we are planning on releasing a lot of our own stuff I thought it would be cool to reference one of our songs. But there will be plenty more in store soon. We are working on some interesting reissues and the next release is a Shifters 45!

Who in the band is the most 'managerial material'?
Amber: Alexa holds everything down… but I wouldn't go as far as calling her "managerial material". That's a pretty harsh dig.

Alexa: I may check band e-mails and book shows but I don't know if I would say I'm managerial material. I work two or three days a week and I hate telling people what to do. In general I'd say everyone in the band is pretty anti-managerial.

'Managerial Material' is available in UK/Europe through Upset the Rhythm April 1. A US pressing will be available in June.