Album: Surrealist Love Songs
Artist: Phoneswithchords//Superdestroyer
Released: July 11, 2025; Lonely Ghost Records
Surrealist Love Songs is something like the third album that Superdestroyer has put out in the last 9 or so months. Its seriously quite impressive. I suppose it becomes a lot easier when you team up with talented people like Phoneswithchords. The sci-fi vibes are strong throughout the album and the surrealistic take on space and love is quite refreshing. Seriously, it’s weird and cool that a 12 minute long punk album could inspire someone like me who has, at best, a basic understanding of the art world, to spend absolutely more time than was necessary reading Wikipedia articles about Surrealism.
The stand out song on the album for me was “Emanating a Resonate Glow”. Superdestroyer’s vocals are energetic and upbeat. The kind of thing I have come to expect and enjoy. However, on this track the mix does this thing where during the verse, Superdestroyer’s vocals bounce back and forth between the left and right channel. The effect creates, what I can only describe as, an aura of sound. Which is really cool as he happens to be singing about someone emanating a resonate glow. Its a subtle inclusion that I had initially missed until I put on my serious listening headphones. It shows that a lot of thought and detail were put into this album.
“A Psychic Link in Perpetuity” has the best Guitar on the album and probably the coolest name. The analogy of love being a thing that psychically links people to together forever is really sweet and enduring. I get a little weepy just thinking about it. Here is what makes it truly surreal. You know logically…. scientifically that can’t happen. However, I have been married to my wife for 23 years and have known and loved her for even longer. There are times where we just look at each other and know what the other is thinking. Lots of people share this type of experience; so maybe it does happen and we just don’t understand it, yet.
Phoneswithchords does the main vocals on “Once formed, it might be loved”. This being my first introduction to him, I can honestly say that I enjoy the smoothness in his voice and his melancholy delivery. It provides a really clean contrast to the spunky zing of Superdestroyer’s vocals. This dynamic can be found throughout the album but this song really showcases it. The synth on this song is also pretty damn good.
With Surrealist Love Songs, Phoneswithchords and Superdestroyer, craft surreal soundsscapes as though they are Salvador Dali, but with correct opinions on Fascism. So like maybe the this is not a pipe, pipe guy or Andre Breton…… definitely Andre Breton. With fuzzy guitar riffs and dreamy synth, this surrealist duo invoke an otherworldly feel that truly inspires the imagination. Maybe love really is just this oddly wonderful thing that is as vast as space and ultimately humans are utterly incapable of comprehending it completely. Definitely check this album out if you are a sucker for sci-fi, synthy punk rock and love.
This Review was originally posted on July 11, 2025 on the former LFDH substack.
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