Inscribe, the liminal, AMMO† A Cold War City

AMMO A Cold War City is available at Bandcamp, Apple Music, Spotify.

by Walter Price

There’s no particular post-punk label that hasn’t been prescribed to LA songwriter/composer/photographer AMMO. And, for the most part, most are spot on. Take these lines from the YouTube post for “Total Recall“, “Her distillate aesthetic can be described as ethereal shoegaze and dreamy alternative. Siouxsie, Dead Can Dance, Cranes, Cocteau Twins, and Enya, are all influences on AMMO’s creations.”

Agreed, and her recent single, “A Cold War City” (not to be confused with Kitty Solaris’ “Cold Cty“, which is blatantly about her nocturnal Berlin, which, coincidentally, is a cold war city), is a sprawling and shadowy beauty that’s brimming with hypnotic energy and cerebral poetry.

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Underneath, they ask of me
Deceitful, a memory
Cold war city
A cold war city

And I am one of us
Inscribe, the liminal
Red Sky
Radiance, radiance, radiance

By ritual, a haunting dream
Invisible, a revery
Cold war city
A cold war city

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I hate to glean to heavily from already written posts, alas, “A Cold War City” is described in its Bandcamp post as, “…an exploration of human memory and its fickle nature. We rewrite details of past experience over and over until eventually, a fiction replaces our recollection. We are the authors of our own memoirs which are under constant revision.” And, for what’s it’s worth, you’re probably not going to find many pop songs going that’s this psychological. Therein lays much of its powers.

Enchanting, beautifully haunting, and intoxicatingly profound, this single is further proof that AMMO is an undeniable strength in the new era of goth, darkwave, shoegaze, or whatever label you must bestow. But just maybe it’s best to invite her vibes, sounds, and messages to wash over you. It’s quite the voyage.

AMMO A Cold War City

Rose + Crown, video

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“AMMO†, 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚞l…”

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