Raue Brings Back Grunge with New EP KARMA!!

Santa Cruz, CA punk duo Raue have released their new EP KARMA!! in partnership with skate, surf & swim, and snowboarding brand Volcom. The duo recently performed at the company’s headquarters promoting the upcoming release of Volcom’s new line of women’s skate pants.

The EP takes me back to the days of my youth when singles were released on double sided 7″ vinyl spun at 45 rpm; a concept foreign to most in their teens and twenties. Singles would consist of an A-side song which was played over the airwaves and a B-side which was generally a song of lesser quality, unless the name of your band was The Beatles. KARMA!! may be an EP in today’s musical world but to me it’s a 45 single in digital format.

It’s not just the two song EP (or 45) that is nostalgic with this release, but also the style itself which takes one back to the grunge sound of the ’90s. Its two songs, “Karma!!” and “Ruby Glow” both possess energetic punk guitar fused with the slower dissonant vocals characteristic of the grunge era. 18-year-old singer/songwriter/guitarist Paide Kalenian and 17-year-old drummer Jax Huckle describe themselves as “a U.S. band delivering a new era of grunge music with the essence of punk rock”.

The duo says, ““The double-single KARMA!! could be considered a rebirth of a sound from the 90’s grunge and punk era. Or, Karma is beckoning a call to action; an invitation for you, the listener, to define this sound as a new era of raw music. A genre yet to be labeled, a paradox of ineffability.”

The music video for the EP’s title track “Karma” was shot on location at Volcom’s skatepark. “It’s two in the morning; you pick up an acoustic guitar and open up the voice memos app on your phone. Karma was a late-night catharsis that, like most, was almost completely overlooked,” the band shares of the EP’s title track. “It developed past the innocence of just a lick into a story patiently awaiting its turn. Subconsciously, the melody paved the direction of what is now defined in words. Lyrics came last.”

They continue: “Most music serves the purpose of lifting some kind of weight off shoulders, moving energy through; it’s a friend you can trust with any unspoken word.

I want ‘Karma’ to be impactful and meaningful in a way that is unique to you; I don’t want to influence your relationships with these songs. This art is yours.”

KARMA!! is available for streaming at: https://raue.os.fan/

Follow Raue, please visit:

Website: www.rauemusic.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/raueband
Twitter: www.twitter.com/rauemusic
Instagram: www.instagram.com/rauemusic
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@rauemusic

Post by Scott Raymer (Website | Instagram | Facebook)

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