Are you feeling the holiday spirit yet? Are you ready to put your feet up, gorge on mince pies and reflect on what a year you’ve had? Tough luck buddy – it wouldn’t be December without Bristol punks The Pleasure Dome closing off the year with an idiosyncratic reminder of all of the gross societal injustices we’ve all condemned to the back of our minds. Following last year’s not-so-festive rendition of PJ Harvey’s ‘The Glorious Land’, the band return to reflect on the past few years’ worth of Britain’s abhorrent failures with ‘Do You Know Better?’; a call to arms for anyone still fed up with the state we’re in.
Teaming up once again with the ever-industrious Theo Verney on production duties, ‘Do You Know Better?’ is a razor-sharp and vitriolic ripper of a song. As usual, there is no holding back on the statements of intent or in the energy of the song, really adding to the feel of the track being the ‘battle cry’ that vocalist Bobby Spender declares it is. While channelling the pain inflicted upon British society by recent displays of government totalitarianism and police violence, there is an equal amount of hope displayed in the references to protests that took place in response.
There’s really no need to cleverly dress the lyrics in metaphors when armed with such frank and direct observations, and this is something you can always count on The Pleasure Dome offering – a succinct reminder that no matter how much we do, there’s still much work to be done to repair our little island. It might not be much of a seasonal offering of good cheer, but it sure does hit the sweet spot.
Words: Reuben Cross // Photo: Jackie Palms
‘Do You Know Better?’ is out now. Stream the track below.