Fence
Nobody Gives A Fuck (purple)
The band Fence has been around since the mid-1990s (their thirtieth anniversary passed by quietly), and in 1998 they finished second in HUMO's Rock Rally. Six albums and a string of singles and EPs followed, with their most recent achievement being the rock album Hazy Mist Of Rock from 2022. Over the course of those thirty years, the music evolved from slacker indie pop, through funky grooves, into a kind of angular rock. The new record is also more of a rock album than anything else, and that is probably due in no small part to the new drummer who joined the band shortly before the recording sessions in 2025. That new drummer is none other than Wim Coppers. Yes, the Wim Coppers, renowned for his exceptional blastbeat work in crushingly heavy bands such as Wiegedood, Crouch, The Rott Childs, and Oathbreaker. Rumours that Wim had always been a huge Fence fan had been circulating for some time, and they have now been confirmed with his ascension to the drum throne of his local heroes. According to the latest count, Wim is the band's seventh drummer, while the three remaining members Meindert Leenders, Lieven Verdin, and Niels Hendrix are the OGs. The songs on NOBODY GIVES A FUCK all sprang from hours of collective improvisation sessions, after which fitting melodies and lyrics were written and the tracks were, as it were, distilled from an abundance of wild ideas much like beer fermented with wild yeast. Most of the lyrics reflect a deep-rooted disappointment with the current state of affairs in the world. Fence embraces both nihilism and hope, but one thing we can all agree on is that humanity is not exactly thriving. The foundations of the album were laid over the course of just a few days in the band's rehearsal room, an old leaking factory hall where Fence has occupied a grimy little corner for more than twenty years. The natural reverberation of the hall is often clearly audible in the drum sound, and even the leaking roof made it onto the vinyl. The album was then further embellished in the band's studio, with lavish contributions from Lotte Vanhamel (clarinet, saxophone, and flute) and Frederik Claes (violin and viola). And, as in the old days, the ageing gentlemen of Fence once again let their voices ring out: rich vocal harmonies and long, soaring passages are present in abundance. In short, NOBODY GIVES A FUCK is an immeasurable shitload of screaming guitars, thunderous drums, and pumping bass lines, adorned with a mountain of entirely unnecessary bells and whistles and topped off with a generous helping of preachy warbling. But it hits like a motherfucker! You'll have to hear it to understand what we mean.