mutate. evolve. transform. War Balloons (2018) is Guante and Big Cats' first collaborative project since 2012's You Better Weaponize. Building on that album's unapologetically political tone, the songs here are grounded in narrative and world-building. "Dog People" looks at the culture of white working-class resentment and the scapegoating (of immigrants, feminists, and other working people) that results from it.
"You Say Millionaire Like It's a Good Thing" is a blistering remix of an older Guante song framing the uninhibited accumulation of wealth as a legitimate moral failing. In between, there are polar bears, mutants, star-crossed lovers, and all of the visionary, just-this-side-of-magical-realism imagery that the duo's older work displays. Influenced by equal parts Bruce Springsteen, Public Enemy, and adrienne maree brown's "Emergent Strategy," this is a project called into existence by necessity. As Guante recently tweeted: "screaming at this hellscape is not enough to change it, but changing it probably won't happen without the screaming."
