Sister Sleep collab with SPLITJAW, offer some queer resistance on new song

Atlanta’s Sister Sleep is one of those bands who I’ve gotten to watch grow so organically from, basically, their inception. I became aware of the band on their second EP ever, 2023’s In Bad Faith, which demonstrated their sound as queer throwback post-hardcore. On this new single, “Collect Your Skeletons” they are joined by Splitjaw’s Maude Stout. Splitjaw, in their own right, are a much different band, hardcore from Chicago but still with the element of queer resilience. Their collaboration finds this collective at a really even middle ground between their distinct styles. The verses are quieter in tone but are pounding underneath the surface. Maude’s feature itself feels like a fit of rage continuing to burn out until the end of the track.

This is a queer run blog, something I have definitely talked about in the past. I write a lot of words, mostly about music and other projects of mine. When we’re in a disaster, locally, across the country, across the world, I never quite feel intelligent enough to speak on it. What I can speak to is my own experience. Casual transphobia and hostility is pretty common, even as close to Portland as I am. Since January there has been a rise in tension and it isn’t just on our side. Agitators feel more emboldened than ever to get a rise out of queer people in all of our communities. This has given me a thicker skin toward the unwarranted hate in the real world.

Not everyone is afforded the same security, however. All of the bands you hear about here are active somewhere. Sister Sleep is always playing around Atlanta and the surrounding areas. If you can get out your local arts community is always a place to find some sense of it not being just you out there. I can get pretty guilty of social anxiety keeping me in my house, I promise you the world seems less scary when you’re among people with the same concerns as you. Things feel bleak, this is true, but even this one song shows you other people are afraid of the same things. If we’re afraid together we will arrive at solutions.

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