Review: Fat White Family’s Serfs Up

by Hannah Kim

Growing up in New Hampshire, my life could only ever be described as quiet and non-threatening. Life was routine and the most controversial event my town had was when the pastor was out sick one Sunday. This may explain why I have always found bands like the Fat White Family to be so exciting, with their intense punk and experimental rock seeping into my brain, fully converting me into a post-punk poser. Fat White Family’s songs have a cult-like sound to them that hypnotizes the listener into joining them on their journey to beat up IDLES and transports them into a setting that is eerie yet hypnotic. This is exactly what their album Serfs Up! does. 

Compared to their prior album, Songs for Our Mothers, which was recorded through paranoia and heroin addiction, Serf’s Up! is Fat White Family’s “friendliest” return to the general public which ropes listeners in through their openness and integration of the pop genre that is fused within their, normally, punk focused tunes. Although most of Serfs Up!  is still dreary with the drug-induced lyrics they’ve become known for, the mellowness of the entire discography sinks the listener into a deep portal that paints clear settings and colors, making you ponder on whether or not this UK band just unlocked synesthesia for you. 

They start the album with “Feet”, a wonderful way to introduce any album. “Feet” feels as though the band has happened upon you within the confines of your bedroom, luring you into a new and unexplored setting that excites the listener, wanting them to hear  more. The band invites you for a ride, and it’s only obvious that you accept. After “Feet” ends, the album then transports you further into that setting with the next few songs that come after. Think like a dark cave with illuminated purple hues. This ride that Fat White Family brings you on only causes you to sink deeper into this dream-like world, making you feel stuck but I swear you’re happy about it. 

As the album carries on, the dream-induced state that you were comfortable feeling has abruptly come to a halt when “Oh Sebastian” starts playing. “Oh Sebastian” can only be described as a feeling where you recognize your comfort in this new space that Fat White Family has provided for you, making you stop in awe of where they were able to take you with their music. The light strings that play in the background lift your body up only for it to be slammed back down again with “Tastes Good With The Money” as the band is reminding you this journey is coming to an end. The album ends with “Bobby’s Boyfriend”, a song with strong instrumentals and inaudible ASMR-esque lyrics that play throughout.

Although Fat White Family fans may feel a bit reserved in giving this new pop-integrated album a chance, the familiar hypnotic feel that you were to get when starting one of their albums is something that doesn’t go away with this new one, completely roping you in from the beginning. This new, yet still familiar direction that Fat White Family is something to look forward to.