Bubblegum Hypnosis Hell of a Depth

 

Some bands are destined to burn in hell. It is a tough pill to swallow - everlasting damnation in return for playing music that moved people, music that nudged people to the side of fun, sex, abandonment, protest.

Have Bubblegum Hypnosis sinned enough to deserve punishment? Let us examine the evidence in their single "Depths of Hell."

It starts simple. It evokes the Cramps in a good way. I enjoy the playfulness and the clear call to dance and scream at the stars. It weaves close to kooky but never quite falls into self-parody and then BANG it hits a groove and it pulls you behind it.

Imagine being at a nice party. The bad kids have playfully tied a rope around your ankle but they were funny and they gave you beer. Then you realise they have climbed in their car. The rope is tied to their car. They are revving the engine. That is how this song makes me feel. At any moment I feel like I am about to be dragged off screaming down the tarmac screaming my last.

When the song ends, I am alive and I have not been dragged to my death. So I play it again.

Will Bubblegum Hypnosis go to hell?

Yes. They are damned and I think they will be very happy there. Me? I wait here with the rope around my ankle waiting for the dislocating lurch as the rope snaps tight.