Glasgow’s next post-punk ones to watch San Jose deliver an electrifying carnival of chaos with their new single ‘Dirty Linen’. True to their ethos of obliterating the boundary between audience and spectacle, the track marries the band’s signature visceral energy with theatrical grandeur, creating a listening experience that feels like barreling through a kaleidoscope of sound. Produced by Christopher McCrory (Walt Disco, Catholic Action), this sprawling piece is equal parts protest song, fever dream, and post-punk pageant.
With a sonic palette teeming with jagged guitars, brass fanfare, haunting strings, and galloping rhythms, ‘Dirty Linen’ flits between abrasive punk urgency and moments of triumphant, almost grotesque musical opulence. It’s a symphony of contradictions, invoking the unhinged intensity of Black Country, New Road and the satirical bite of Cabbage. This track takes a searing swipe at the absurdity of purity politics, framed through a surreal encounter with a bigot. The band’s razor-sharp commentary is buoyed by their theatricality, likening cultural “stains” to playful muddy rebellions.
Before we leave you to dive into this pile of post-punk ambition, here’s the backstory to ‘Dirty Linen’, straight on from horse’s mouth:
“The song stems from a conversation with a bigot. We spoke about purity and race. Eventually the bigot returned to the empty glass in front of him, and I went home. But born was the idea that no one is truly “pure”. We are all from somewhere, a rehash of a rehash of a rehash. We have all been through the washing machine and tumble dryer and we all will return there again. That bigot will be reborn, in his mind “stained” by the marvels of multiculturalism and immigration, but in my mind he has been fulfilled, like a colouring-in page receiving its last crayon mark. We are what surrounds us, and if anyone considers it ‘dirty’ then let it be so. We’d all rather play in the “mud”, than let our clothes keep us captive. We styled the song to that of a musical, adding different elements and sounds to create a crazy circus-like sound that can also make you feel slightly uneasy. We aimed to fully embrace this balance of joviality and wrongness to try and create something new and unique. Which can be hard when the easiest route is to redo the same tired formula. Recording Dirty Linen was a euphoric experience. Chris McCrory is a joy to work with and he understands us completely, he helped us shape or mental ideas to create a sonic piece we are all proud of. We hope people enjoy the song as much as we enjoyed recording it.”
You can also listen to ‘Dirty Linen’ in our Indie Rockers playlist.
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