• Home
  • ABOUT / SUBMIT
    • ABOUT/ CONTACT
  • VISUAL PRODUCTION
  • MUSIC
  • INTERVIEWS/ ARTICLES
  • PASTEL WASTELAND FILMS
Pastel Wasteland
MUSIC 0

Violent Vickie – “Circle Square” [Darkwave] 🇺🇸

By Ryan Cole @Caus3s · On May 23, 2020

California’s Violent Vickie has been rolling out captivating dark electronica for the better part of a decade. Her releases have, in the past, blurred the lines between electropop, darkwave, techno, riot grrrl and many other genres besides. And no matter what she puts out, you can guarantee that it’ll be delivered with her own distinctive style.

In April she dropped “Serotonin”. Powered by a stylish video, rich with gothic imagery, it blew up, clocking in over 13,000 views on her YouTube channel alone. “Serotonin” also signaled a resurgence, as it was her first major release since 2017’s “Fuck Boy”.

Now Violent Vickie has dropped “Circle Square”. While it shares some similarities with “Serotonin”, it leans more into electronica. The latter’s guitars are replaced by signal noise, glitches, and unique synths. All powered from the start by throbbing bass and solid beats which never allow the pulse to falter.

Contrasts matter here. Not only between “Circle Square” and “Serotonin”, but also within the song itself. “Circles” and “Squares” for one. Then there’s that cover. Vickie curled up in the fetal position, long black hair hiding her from the world. All while under the glare of intense neon lighting which gives her no place to hide.

Her vocal delivery wouldn’t be out of place on a shoegaze track. It’s ethereal, indistinct, and makes teasing out the lyrics difficult. But the words themselves are pretty simple. Short sentences, limited word count, repeating phrases.

When you catch them, you’ll find that the lyrics continue the theme. Here Vickie is someone out of place, at odds with, in contrast to, the world around her and how she’s perceived. Lines like “I stumble along. In your world I’m something wrong” and “You think I’m something” are simple but say so much.

It’s encouraging that “Circle Square” dropped so close to “Serotonin”. Hopefully this means that we’ll be hearing a lot more from her over the coming months.

You can find Violent Vickie here:

Bandcamp

YouTube

SoundCloud

Instagram

Twitter

Follow our Boundary-Pushing Pop playlist on Spotify!

ShareTweet
circle squaredarkwavegothserotoninshoegazeviolent vickie
Share Tweet

Ryan Cole

Obscure film and music fanatic. Proud Mutant and Dr Pepper addict.

You Might Also Like

  • MUSIC

    Pastel Wasteland Playlist – APRIL 2021

  • MUSIC

    Indigo Maya – “Martyrs” EP [Apocalypse Pop]

  • MUSIC

    Calios – “Full Throttle” EP [Dubstep]

  • Home
  • ABOUT
  • WORK WITH US
  • Privacy Policy

© 2020 PASTEL WASTELAND LTD

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.