Violent Soho toured with Faker and Grafton Primary in May 2008, playing songs from their first full length album We Don't Belong Here, which was released on 7 June 2008 on the Emergency Music label. Following the release they toured all around Australia, then played shows in London, New York and Los Angeles in November 2008 before returning home to play more shows and summer festivals, such as Homebake, The Meredith Music Festival, Falls Festival and Southbound Festival.
On 20 February 2009, Violent Soho announced on their MySpace page that they had signed an "overwhelmingly exciting" deal with Ecstatic Peace! Records, a record company headed by Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, a hero of the band. They also signaled their intention to spend much of 2009 touring Australia, touring and recording in the US, and mentioned that a new album that "elaborated" on the material recorded for We Don't Belong Here was due for worldwide release in the third quarter of 2009. On 19 December 2009, the band announced that they would release a limited-edition EP containing re-recorded versions of "Bombs Over Broadway" and "Son of Sam", which would initially only be for sale at US tour dates.
The band would later part ways with Moore's label and in 2013 Boerdam stated:
Being on Thurston Moore's label doesn't happen that often for an Australian band. It gave us a great sense of validation as a band. Just being able to quit your day job and tour for 18 months made us better. Whether it results in Facebook likes or record sales I don't care, the real impact was more personal.
On 9 March 2010, Violent Soho released a second, self-titled album on Ecstatic Peace! The album was produced by Gil Norton, who previously worked with the Pixies, and the single "Jesus Stole My Girlfriend" was released from it.
Violent Soho performed at the 2011 Laneway Festival, followed by an Australian tour supporting Australian alternative rock band Jebediah in mid-2011. The band was then chosen by Les Savy Fav to perform at the ATP Nightmare Before Christmas festival that they co-curated in December 2011 in Minehead, England, UK.
The band toured with English band Arctic Monkeys in early 2012 during the same period that the band members returned to Australia. Violent Soho was nominated for an ARIA Award that year and Tidswell revealed in an October 2013 interview that he received congratulations from friends while on his way to seek employment at a local McDonalds store, as the band was no longer signed to a label and was without any financial support at the time.
The band then signed to the Melbourne-based Australian independent record label "I Oh You" and released a new single called "Tinderbox" on 27 August 2012. In November 2012, an Australian tour coincided with the release of the double-single "Tinderbox"/"Neighbour Neighbour".
In April 2013, the band revealed via their Facebook account that they were in the process of recording their next full-length album. The album was produced by Brisbane producer Bryce Moorhead and recorded at Moorhead's Shed Studios.
In July 2013, Violent Soho announced that their next album is entitled Hungry Ghost and will be released on the I Oh You label on 6 September 2013—the first single, "In The Aisle", was released on 8 July 2013. Regarding the sound of the album, Boerdam asserted in an October 2013 interview: "There's no reason to lock the band down to that grunge label which we were constantly given, despite us never using that word. We realised that we didn't care, as long as we were happy with the music we were making."
A video for the song "In The Aisle" was released on 16 July 2013. Directed by Tristan Houghton, the video documents a nude cyclist riding around Brisbane distributing flyers for a nude bike ride event. A video for the song "Covered In Chrome", filmed in bass player Luke Henery's house, was released on 16 October 2013. Ideas and imagery in the lyrics for the song were informed by a Wikipedia article about the Hungarian uprising in 1956 which vocalist and guitarist Luke Boerdom had been reading.
The album title was inspired by the book "Culture Jam" by Kalle Lasn. As Luke Boerdom explained in a September 2013 online article, "From memory the term went something like this: “We sit around on couches, buying what we think makes us who we are, like a hungry ghost”. I looked up hungry ghost and it actually comes from traditional Chinese Buddhism. It means to have a non-shakable addiction/desire, and you lose yourself to that desire, you lose your identity." Regarding the general themes of the album's lyrics, Boerdom said: "Throughout the record I play with the idea of escaping a masked reality. I like to explore this concept that we live in a form of hyper-consumer reality and we lack an authentic human experience. In a few songs I try and focus on outsider suburban characters that are usually hidden and outcast by society, reenacting tapping into their reality and what they view as normal."
Lowbrow
Violent Soho Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You're cold but lovable
Dream up all the centrefolds
For what?
'Cause I raised your glass
Signed your card
And this is all I got
No sounds, all tricks
And this is all I got
You worship wars
Your skin ain't torn
And this is all I got
'Cause it's outside
Outside
Shrugged shoulders and after-thoughts
Burn your cards and walk away
Fantasise for another day
For what?
When they stand on the family shore
Holding hands and staring high
Did you think that this would work?
For what?
'Cause I raised your glass
Signed your card
And this is all I got
Your highbrow piss
No sounds, all tricks
And this is all I got
You worship wars
Your skin ain't torn
And this is all I got
'Cause it's outside
Outside
Holy mother
Holy mother
Holy mother
I'll say go and you say where now
It's been made for you this weather
Lilly Lally dancing fuck-ups
Gold Coast mums and prefect drop-outs
I'll say go and you say where now (outside)
I'll say go and you say where now
I'll say go and you say where now (outside)
I'll say go and you say where now
In "Lowbrow," Violent Soho ponders the emptiness of relationships built on surface and status. The opening lines describe someone who appears outwardly chic and put-together, yet feels unapproachable and distant. The singer questions the point of this supposed perfection, wondering why anyone would dream of being featured in a magazine centerfold. The second stanza builds on this sense of disillusionment and begins to flesh out the relationship: the singer has shown up for this person, raised a glass and signed a card, yet in the end, all they have to show for it is this "highbrow piss," this sense of elitism and superiority. The third stanza takes an even harsher look at the person who is the subject of the song—this individual "worships wars" and revels in a supposed toughness or hardness, but hasn't experienced any real suffering. The chorus is a simple but powerful repetition of the phrase "holy mother," perhaps an invocation of a higher power or a frustration-induced plea. The final lines of the song introduce some new imagery: dancing "fuck-ups," Gold Coast mums, and prefect drop-outs. These mixed-up, mismatched elements, it seems, are far more fascinating than the insubstantial, glossy life painted in the earlier verses.
Line by Line Meaning
Dressed up like a funeral home
You're emotionally distant and closed off
You're cold but lovable
You may seem standoffish, but you're still lovable
Dream up all the centrefolds
You imagine perfect people and situations
For what?
What's the point?
'Cause I raised your glass
I took care of you, I celebrated you
Signed your card
I showed you love and appreciation
And this is all I got
But you only give me fake high-class nonsense in return
Your highbrow piss
You give me fake sophistication and intellect
No sounds, all tricks
You're all appearance and no substance
And this is all I got
And that's all you can offer me in return
You worship wars
You're obsessed with conflict and drama
Your skin ain't torn
But you don't actually have any battle scars or emotional wounds
And this is all I got
That's still all you have, even if it's not authentic
'Cause it's outside
You're looking for something external to fill the void inside you
Outside
You're always searching, never satisfied
Shrugged shoulders and after-thoughts
You don't take things seriously, and you don't think things through
Burn your cards and walk away
You're impulsive and self-destructive
Fantasise for another day
You daydream about things you know you can't have
For what?
What's the point of dreaming if you can't make those dreams come true?
When they stand on the family shore
You observe people from a distance
Holding hands and staring high
You envy those who seem to have it all
Did you think that this would work?
Do you really believe your strategy will lead to happiness?
Holy mother
An emphatic expression of surprise or awe
I'll say go and you say where now
You're searching for direction
It's been made for you this weather
You feel like your circumstances are out of your control
Lilly Lally dancing fuck-ups
You identify with people who are disorganized and clumsy
Gold Coast mums and prefect drop-outs
You feel like an outsider in a world of societal norms and expectations
I'll say go and you say where now (outside)
You're still searching for something beyond yourself
I'll say go and you say where now
You're unsure of where to go next
I'll say go and you say where now (outside)
You're still drawn to the unknown, to the outside
Contributed by Landon T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Joseph Marx
Love these guys
Brandon Chilian
This album was worth the 18 dollars I had to pay for it.
MultiUnSaid
this band is the reason for me to visit Australia, because they're not giving concerts in motherfucking Russia :( can't blame them.
rap-rap abila
violent soho please bring back this kind of music.. i hope they make album like this!
Tom Geyer
BEST SONG EVER
Leisa Englefield
Shrugged shoulders and after thoughts
Burn your cards and walk away
Fantasise for another day
For what?
SLuna
I'm fucking moving to Australia, I need to see you live, I live in Mexico :(
ASMR BOIS FAN
Mr. Knuckles it's great over here!
SLuna
Theyre pretty good, lets go to australia to see them bro
aerojascruz
Mr. Knuckles i live in guadalajara. i love these guys as well.