Artist Close-Up/ Song Review: Saint PHNX Show How History Can Feel Like A “Reload”
Saint PHNX are two brothers – vocalist & multi-instrumentalist Stevie Jukes and drummer Alan Jukes. Raised in the industrial town of Wishaw in Glasgow, it is natural that these brothers create music that empowers people. What better than an industrial town to teach you the workings of life and the mechanisms of society. Enter their newest single “Reload”: a rock n’ roll anthem that takes a hard look into history’s repetitiveness.
Saint PHNX – Reload
From the literal first second of Reload, you know it wants to send a message. Pressing play to this song is like opening a door on a windy day; you are bound to get blown by a cold force. The guitar and drums bust through your sonic and mental waves to take you captive for three minutes, and school you on the madness that is human history and its consistent choice of darkness. Thus, this song is NOT a quiet, meek song, at all. Not only does Reload wish to construct a hook and eagle-eyed lyrics that pierce with rough truths, but Steve Jukes’ vocals wish to enrapture with its own heightened emotion and range. When you hear him sing and “aaahhh”, you hear his mixture of disappointment of people’s choice of evil, but Saint PHNX’s resilience to overcome it. From close-ups of politicians, like Donald Trump, to clips of WWII, it is clear that Saint PHNX has had ENOUGH! These brothers have used their self-produced video to question the freedom of cruelty to hurt good, everyday people without gaining rebuke.
On the inspiration for Reload, frontman Stevie comments:
“Reload was inspired by man’s inherent addiction to tribalism and conflict. History has shown us that in any given period there has always been conflict and it seems to us that we never learn from our mistakes, we just reload. This message is as important today as ever with all the unsurety in the world and our visuals represents just that.”
Wow! Those are poignant, artful words that clearly state something we all know: Humanity repeats history, and has the tendency to repeat its darkness. Why is division, oppression, and pain, which are known wicked, hurtful actions so easily replicated? You have to admire anyone that tackles these questions with sophistication, but to do it with a blunt, no holds aggression is amazing. Reload calls out humanity to question it humaneness. Listen to this three minute brute force of wisdom that echoes hard rock and matches it with harder images. Click Here For more information on Saint PHNX.
