Brussels-based synth pop outfit The Cultural Studies released a music video for ‘Automaton’, lead single of their album, Recycled Press on the Sub-continental label in February.
Led by Slovakian producer Oskar Pompa and US-American front man Eric aka ‘The Stereo Vampire’, the project bases itself at the centre of the EU in the Belgian capital and employs the minimal beats and a synth pop sense of humour harking back to early-millennial dance punk.
Except that where these cheesy electro rhythms once carried little more than the Brooklyn warehouse party scene nihilism of the noughties, The Cultural Studies bear a deadpan deconstruction of capitalist exploitation on the chorus of an insistent “pay the tax!”.
Watch the video below or listen to the full Recycled Press album. **