Two Whatevers Dissect The Emotional Cost Of Hyper-Capitalism In ‘Punk Deluxe’

The Chicago duo Two Whatevers merges philosophical rigor with analogue grit to create an intellectual protest album ‘Punk Deluxe‘ for the internet age. The modern city is a machine built for accumulation.

Its architecture directs our movement, its screens dictate our desires, and its rhythms demand our constant participation. In this environment, the act of creating something purely for the sake of expression becomes a quiet form of rebellion.

Chicago, a city with a profound history of labour struggles and architectural innovation, serves as the perfect backdrop for such a rebellion. It is here that Two Whatevers, the married duo of Eben Hewitt and Alison Brown, have crafted their second full-length album, “Punk Deluxe.”

The record operates as a sophisticated critique of our hyperconnected era, asking how individuals can maintain their humanity when every interaction is commodified.

Eben Hewitt, a playwright with New York City production credits, and Alison Brown, a philosopher specializing in French feminism and the history of thought, do not approach music as mere entertainment. Their work is an extension of an ongoing dialogue about cultural identity and systemic control.

Drawing influence from thinkers like Spinoza, Foucault, and Cixous, they construct songs that function as philosophical inquiries. Yet, they avoid the trap of academic sterility. By recording live analogue guitar and bass performances through extensive pedalboards at their home studio, and tracking vocals at the historic Island Studios Chicago, they ground their intellectual concepts in raw, tactile sound.

The result is a genre-defying collection that they playfully describe as folk-funk-pop-punk-shoegaze-new-wave-hip-hop-blues-rock.

“Punk Deluxe” is fundamentally an emotional protest album. It does not call for the smashing of governments or the burning of institutions. Instead, it advocates for the formation of a new consciousness, one capable of authentic love and artistic creation within a system designed to reduce people to consumers with shipping preferences.

The band’s name itself is an arch reference to a quote from Chairman Mao’s Cultural Revolution, highlighting the absurdity of blind allegiance to any dominant ideology, political or corporate. This thematic depth is evident across the album’s ten tracks, which explore the tension between consumption and creation, public performance and private withdrawal.

The sonic variety on the album is staggering, reflecting the chaotic nature of the modern American and European psyche. “Content” opens the record with a dance floor energy influenced by Moby, immediately addressing the digital saturation of our daily lives.

The title track, “Punk Deluxe,” leans into a surf exotic blues style, populated by characters reminiscent of Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan’s vivid imaginations. Here, the duo reflects on the psychological labour required to survive in a hyper-capitalist society.

The transition to “Susie Medusa” introduces a jarring but effective fusion of Chicago Southside trap and Louisiana swamp blues, demonstrating the band’s willingness to dismantle genre boundaries.

The production, handled by Marcus Taylor, Malcolm Flex, and Niam, with mastering by the renowned Slavic Livins, guarantees that the album’s disparate elements cohere into a unified statement. Livins, known for his work with Korn and Andre3000, reportedly called the duo “The Truth,” a high compliment that speaks to the authenticity of their sound.

The analogue warmth of Hewitt’s Paul Reed Smith guitars and Brown’s heavily effected bass lines provides a necessary counterweight to the virtual treatments on the vocals, creating a tension that mirrors the album’s thematic concerns.

One of the most striking moments on the record is “We’re Here,” a protest song that remixes the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. over Black church music. It is a bold choice that connects the current struggle for emotional autonomy with historical fights for civil rights. Similarly, “Burn It Down” recasts Leadbelly’s rendition of the traditional folk song “In the Pines,” linking the duo’s contemporary anxieties to a long tradition of American musical storytelling.

“Punk Deluxe” is a demanding record, one that requires active listening and intellectual engagement. It challenges the listener to look beyond the surface of their daily routines and question the systems that govern their lives.

By merging philosophical rigor with musical invention, Two Whatevers have created a work that is both intellectually provocative and emotionally resonant. As the final notes of the cinematic and atmospheric “Astrocytes” fade, one is left to ponder a difficult question.

In a society that constantly demands our attention and our capital, what forms of desire and creation are truly our own?