04 If the Monkey Becomes (To Be) the King

08 Up Next Bela Lugosi's Back

8 + 2 + 8 II a new transmission from Beijing based post-punks Re:TROS.  Thunderous drums and digital conundrums, comprise the blizzard of dots and dashes at the heart of this Steve Reich inspired slice of globalist pop.
 
Rebuilding The Rights of Statues (Re:TROS) are heavyweights of the Chinese post-punk scene. This track represents the first taster of their album ‘Before the Applause’, due for release on Modern Sky Entertainment 15th September 2017, and produced by Hector Castillo (David Bowie, Lou Reed, Bjork, Phillip Glass).  

Inspired by Clap Music by Steve Reich, for all its mechanised brutality, 8+2+8 is built on the loops of several claps and slaps and human voices. “We wanted to make it in the simplest and most direct way without too many unnatural sounds” explains Hua Dong, “It's hard to say what this song is about. The lyrics, talk about three scenes— a boy burning videotapes, a pink flag burned in a museum and a wheel burning in a square (sung in German). They are all related to burning.”

Exposed to the arts from an early age, Re:Tros frontman Hua Dong was raised by intellectuals in the city of Nanjing. As a young boy, Dong befriended an American classmate – Kanye West, whose mother taught at the local school alongside his own mother. The two boys often spent time hanging out at Dong’s house, until his friend returned to the U.S.  

After graduating Dong began drumming for Chinese punk rockers PK14, where he met bassist and future collaborator Liu Min. Min and Dong soon moved to Beijing and formed Re:TROS, recording their debut EP (including contributions from Brian Eno) for Modern Sky Entertainment, China.  Their two album releases in Asia have met with widespread regional success, and the band have toured with Gang of Four, PIL and Ought. Re:TROS credit Bauhaus, Joy Division, Television and Pere Ubu among their greatest influences.

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/retros.official/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Re_TROS
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ubudancing/
Website - http://re-tros.com/RE-TROS/News.html

8+2+8  II

Re-TROS unveils "At Mosp Here" the second single off their sophomore album 'Before The Applause,' set to come out 15th September 2017 via Modern Sky. When composing "At Mosp Here," the band ventured for the first time outside of the post punk/new wave sound they had been honing for 10 years. The song spearheaded the new musical direction on 'Before The Applause,' which sees the band explore electronic soundscapes and entrancing loops.

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/retros.official/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Re_TROS
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ubudancing/
Website - http://re-tros.com/RE-TROS/News.html

At Mosp Here

‘Pigs’ comes on like The Coral at their most creepily echo-laden; Nick Cave and James Skelly, in a knife fight down a Shanghai back street. With an almost evil vocal croak, Dong sings about the unfortunate titular swine that inspired the song title, the strange tale of around 16,000 pig corpses that floated down Shanghai’s Huangpu river in 2013, sparking headlines around the world. 

It is a track in stark contrast to the clubland referencing epics of 8 + 2 + 8 II and At Mosp Here released online earlier this spring.  In March Re-TROS payed their first UK visit, playing to packed showcases in London and Liverpool they set about their quest to be the first Chinese band to ‘go global’.  Heroes of the Chinese underground rock scene, Beijing-based ‘Rebuild-ing the Rights of Statues’ release their genre-spanning post punk inspired album Before The Applause on September 15th on Modern Sky Entertainment.

Facebook - www.facebook.com/retros.official/
Twitter - twitter.com/Re_TROS
Instagram - www.instagram.com/ubudancing/
Website - re-tros.com/RE-TROS/News.html

Pigs In The River

Red Rum Aviv

Sounds For Celebration

Over the next few weeks we’ll be releasing some live recordings from our recent gig at The Cavern Club in Liverpool. Check them out here or on Facebook

A Death-Bed Song

Re-TROS premiere "Hailing Drums," the opening track of their upcoming album 'Before The Applause' (due September 15th on Modern Sky).  The nine-minute song melds Fugazi-influenced machine gun drums, crunching heavy metal guitar and spacey Eno-esque synth washes. "This song is like a scene" lead guitarist/singer Hua Dong tells Post Punk Magazine, "the vagrants are hailing, beating drums and bones, and sinking the crowd into silence."

Facebook - www.facebook.com/retros.official/
Twitter - twitter.com/Re_TROS
Instagram - www.instagram.com/ubudancing/
Website - re-tros.com/RE-TROS/News.html

Re-TROS

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