There’s nothing better than a good punk rock cover that helps wake up the neighbors, and CLIFFDIVER have returned with a fiery reboot of an already fiery classic, stirring up X-Ray Spex’s meteoric ripper “Oh Bondage, Up Yours!” with an assist from Stephen Egerton of Descendents and All on lead guitar. It’s an especially inspired effort from CLIFFDIVER co-lead singer Briana Wright, who channels her inner Poly Styrene to bring the the fury of 1977 right into 2023.
“I’ve had the dream of reinventing the song for so long… and not only is it happening, but we did it alongside another musical hero of ours????” says Wright. “It’s the best kind of ridiculous and so humbling to imagine that our little project could be a part of reintroducing a whole new audience to X-Ray Spex and a deeper look into the history of women — especially women of color — in punk and alternative music. And there’s really no better time for it. As we descend further into the capitalist hellscape humanity has created, the message at the heart of the song just becomes more relatable. I think we all need this now.”
The Tulsa band will be spending much of the summer out on the road, including a few select Sad Summer dates, showing off last year’s breakout SideOneDummy album Exercise Your Demons. They don’t swing into New England, but when they do, we’ll be the first to shout about it.