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."
Saramona Said
Violent Soho Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I wanna take it down, Saramona said
No great reprise, I will abandon
I want to bastardise this entire state
Let's start a fire, it's like a big freight train
Let's start a fire, we are defeated
I want a dictator, Saramona said
Let's free desire, be unconnected
I wanna pop this pill, cause I'm a free man
Let's start a fire, it's like a big freight train
Let's start a fire, we are defeated
Let's start a fire
We are defeated
The song "Saramona Said" by Violent Soho can be interpreted in many ways. It appears to be a commentary on society and the feeling of being defeated. The lyrics express a sense of frustration and a desire for change. The first verse describes a feeling of being trapped with nowhere to hide and no direction to lead. The singer wants to "take it down" and "bastardise this entire state", suggesting a desire to cause chaos and overthrow the status quo.
The chorus contains the repeated phrase "Let's start a fire", which can be taken literally as a call to ignite flames and cause destruction, or metaphorically as a call to inspire change and revolution. However, the singer also acknowledges that "we are defeated", which implies a sense of hopelessness or resignation.
The second verse includes references to anxiety and a desire for a dictator, which could be a commentary on political leaders exploiting fear and uncertainty to gain power. The final line "we are defeated" is repeated again, driving home the feeling of helplessness and frustration.
Overall, "Saramona Said" can be interpreted as a reflection of the current state of society and the desire for change, even if it means causing chaos and destruction.
Line by Line Meaning
No place to hide, no where to lead us
There's nowhere to escape or move forward from our current state.
I wanna take it down, Saramona said
Saramona wants to destroy the system that has put us in this hopeless situation.
No great reprise, I will abandon
There won't be any salvation or redemption, so the singer is giving up.
I want to bastardise this entire state
The artist desires to corrupt and disrupt the current political and social structure.
The TV lies, it makes me anxious
The media is deceitful, and it causes the artist to feel distressed and uneasy.
I want a dictator, Saramona said
Saramona believes that a strong authoritarian leader would be better suited to deal with the problems at hand.
Let's free desire, be unconnected
Let's break away from societal norms and explore our own individual desires and connections.
I wanna pop this pill, cause I'm a free man
The artist wants to indulge in drugs to feel liberated from the constraints of society.
Let's start a fire
Let's enact change and disruption.
It's like a big freight train
Once we start, we won't be able to stop or reverse what's been set in motion.
We are defeated
We have already lost, and there's nothing left to do but rebel and fight back.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: LUKE BOERDAM, LUKE HENERY, MICHAEL RICHARDS, JAMES TIDSWELL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Miguel Ramirez
[Verse 1]
No place to hide
Nowhere to lead us
I wanna take you down
Saramona said
No great reprise
I will abandon
I want to bastardise
This entire state
[Chorus]
Let's start a fire
It's like a big freight train
Let's start a fire
We are defeated
[Verse 2]
The TV lies
It makes me anxious
I want a dictator
Saramona said
Let's free desire
Be unconnected
I wanna pop this pill
'Cause I'm a free man
[Chorus]
Let's start a fire
It's like a big freight train
Let's start a fire
We are defeated
[Bridge]
Let's start a fire
Let's start a fire
Let's start a fire
Let's start a fire
[Chorus]
Let's start a fire
We are defeated
Let's start a fire
We are defeated
[Outro]
As we watch, we lose ourselves
(Let's start a fire)
Define the world before we find it
(We are defeated)
On and on, we lose ourselves
(Let's start a fire)
To miracles, a miracle
(We are defeated)
As we lose ourselves
(Let's start a fire)
As we lose ourselves
(We are defeated)
maya_the_bee
I will forever hold violent soho close to my heart. Thank you so much for being an inspiration to other small bands, and producing better music than the big ones
Chrystal
Me too Close to my heart
Dylan Mester
Lad
Dylan Mester
Letts start a fire
Elriuhilu
I just can't get over how good this song is
Blank Man
Yeah. This really is a next level song.
Hare Jutsu
Extremely underrated song.
B. Wheatley
2022 and I keep coming back to this one. It stirs the heart like the first time I heard the guitar drop in with the rhythm each time too
Monotone Unknown
This band makes me want to rock out so hard and start a band.
max gutierrez
what's stopping you?