Straw Man Army
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Straw Man Army | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Brooklyn, New York[1] |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2018–present |
| Labels |
|
| Members | Owen Deutsch Sean Fentress |
Straw Man Army is a punk rock duo based in Brooklyn, New York.[1][5] The band has released four albums since their founding in 2018.[6]
The duo first met in high school in Chicago and formed Straw Man Army in 2018.[7] Their first album, Age of Exile, was released in October 2020.[8] Its lyrics address the legacy of U.S. colonialism,[9][10] and the band donated the profits from album sales to The Red Nation, a Native American advocacy group.[11][12]
In 2021, Straw Man Army recorded a soundtrack for Her Majesty's Ship, an experimental 2019 film based on Charles Darwin's 1839 memoir The Voyage of the Beagle.[13]
Their 2022 album SOS was named by The Washington Post, NPR, and Bandcamp as one of the best albums of the year.[14][15][16][17] The band donated profits from sales of SOS to Roots Unbound, a prison abolition nonprofit.[14]
Their 2024 album Earthworks was met with continued critical acclaim,[4][18][19][20] being named to several year-end lists.[21][22] Straw Man Army has stated that Age of Exile, SOS, and Earthworks are intended as a trilogy focused on the past, present, and future, respectively.[23][24]
Musical style and influences
Straw Man Army is known for its DIY ethic,[25][26] its politically charged lyrics,[3][27] and its experimental use of ambient sound.[28][29] The band's anarcho-punk[9] musical style incorporates elements of psychedelic rock,[30] krautrock,[31] and jazz.[19][29] Straw Man Army shares members with D4MT labelmates Kaleidoscope and Tower 7.[11]
Fentress and Deutsch have described CAN, the Ventures, and the Apostles as some of their biggest influences.[24] Critics have compared the band to Wire,[1][18] the Ex,[25][22] Zounds,[29][32][33] This Heat,[20][23] and Crass,[9][22] while also noting its "sparse, driven" sound[25] that resists easy categorization.[32]
