FM4 Soundpark is a web platform, community, and radio show for and with Austrian musicians. In an ongoing collaboration, FM4’s team recommends particular artists of the moment to amplify. Today, the honor goes to: Cousines like Shit.
“Permanent Earthquake” is the name of the second album by Cousines like Shit and describes the current state of the world. But the Salzburg cousins are not burying their heads in the sand. In an interview, they talk about their new sound, a chance encounter with Beck in New York and appeal for optimism.
Things are happening – a lot is happening – in the lives of musicians Laura and Hannah Breitfuß. They have been making music together as Cousines like Shit since 2017 and founded their project while on vacation in Greece with their family. However, the two cousins soon swapped the beach for sticky club stages. Their debut album “Avant Trash” was released in 2023, twelve un-ironed guitar songs such as “Over Night” and “Barbie”, which were considered indie hits even back then.
What has changed for Cousines like Shit since then? “We’ve definitely retained the way we make music with such ease. But a certain professionalism has now been added because we’re more aware of all these processes and are better connected in the scene.”
Constant Trump-quake
Firmly rooted in the Viennese DIY scene, Hannah and Laura Breitfuß are always drawn to New York City. Their music friends live there, all of whom play in wild art-punk bands like Bodega or Gustaf. Nevertheless, there are parallels between the East Coast underground and Vienna. “Both are very motivated right now. And feel very familiar.” There is support there as well as there. Of course, musicians in New York City are already feeling and suffering from the effects of the Trump administration. Some colleagues have already had their funding cut. “People are not happy in our bubble. There is a lot of unease and fear.”
That’s why cohesion is all the more important: supporting each other in the creative process, sharing ideas and – importantly – celebrating together. This is roughly how the new album came about. As with the “Avant Trash” record, Madison Velding-VanDam, music lover and producer, was also involved, with whom they first spent a few days jamming in a relaxed atmosphere on the East Coast. The recording sessions were then timed to perfection: three full studio days, thirty hours of recording sessions, a few bottles of wine from the store around the corner. The result?
“’Permanent Earthquake’ captures the mood that is currently being felt not only in the USA, but all over the world. Everything is very uncertain and shaken up. There are simply social difficulties that cannot be ignored.” The spin cycle is immediately audible on the album opener “TO DO LIST”. The tempo is clearly picked up and the sound is rough.
My to-do list tries to suffocate me in my sleep
So much to do / high expectations to meet
The pressure rises / Faces turn pale
Performance oriented society won’t allow you to fail
It’s all about what you deliver / not about who you are
The system is clear on that / so don’t go to far
Participation is mandatory / no way to break free
From the game of achievement / you will see
Performance-driven in the age of late capitalism, that’s a big spoonful to pour into a song that’s just under two minutes long. But it works very well in the new sound world of Cousines like Shit. It has now become much more electronic, thanks to lots of synthesizer pads and more BPM. There was also musical inspiration in New York thanks to the aforementioned band friends from Bodega. Laura Breitfuß also listened to a lot of Beaks before the recordings – the spark of darkness must have been transmitted from the Austrian solo artist.
Cannibal mermaids & the power of one night
As with their predecessor, Cousines like Shit play a lot with language on “Permanent Earthquake”. Their lyrics are often bold, perfect for scribbling somewhere for later or even for piercing under the skin, as the songwriters say in the interview. They themselves each have a tattoo of a “C”, which of course stands for their close cousin relationship. They are particularly proud of the lyrics of the first single release “NO”, which is peppered with questions such as: “Is not watering your plants a sign of post modernism?”, or: “If a mermaid eats seafood is it cannibalism?” The answer in the track is to the point and always the same: “No, it isn’t.”
One or two nights of drinking have also been immortalized on the new record. For example, there’s the dark wave track “SOBER AT THE CLUB”, which was written after an evening together in Brooklyn. The Glove was the name of the club, which offered a good mix of party, performances, exhibitions and club culture that evening – a parallel world for one night.
Speaking of legendary evenings on the East Coast: a few weeks ago, Hannah and Laura Breitfuß once again found themselves on a New York stage when they performed at the New Colossus Festival showcase on the Lower East Side. Afterwards, they had dinner with friends and, coincidentally, indie icon and Grammy award winner Beck, who joined them. Of course, Cousines like Shit quickly slipped him their card, who knows, maybe there will be a collaboration in the future…
From boredom to serenity
The lives of these two cousins sound anything but boring right now. Nevertheless, there is a song on the album called “BORING”. “Boring is the worst word that I know”, they sing in their characteristic two-part vocals. “The song is really mean,” says Hannah Breitfuß and laughs. After all, who wants to be called boring?
When Cousines Like Shit deal with the issues of our time, they also think about previous generations. For example, about their parents: “They were simply much more relaxed about certain issues than we are and had a certain confidence.” A scene from everyday family life back then has also crept into the song lyrics as an image: Parents putting their children down on chairs to sleep at parties and celebrations instead of going home early. “We always admired the fact that our parents didn’t organize their lives around their children, but the other way around.”
How can we now learn a little something from Breitfuß’s no-nonsense approach in the present day? Hannah and Laura answer in Greek: “σιγa σιγa!” – which means: “Slowly, slowly, just take it easy.”
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Translated from the German original by Arianna Alfreds.