As Election Day looms, Big Stir Records unleashes a bit of pent-up sociopolitical frustration with the ferocious new single “I Say We Take Off And Nuke The Site From Orbit” from D.F.E., Hamtramck, MI's masters of Sunshine Sludge. It's out today (with a B-side cover of “Yellow River” by early '70s one-hit-wonder Christie) at bigstirrecords.bandcamp.com/music and everywhere. With huge guitars and huger harmonies taking aim at the “uninformed and unaware”, it's a song for “now”.

“It's not so much anti-social media as it is about people who take social media too seriously... up to and including the Tweeter-in-Chief”, says D.F.E. drummer/mastermind JOSH KOWALSKI. “The idea that our identity and self-worth is based on 'winning' some argument on Facebook or whatever... I'm so tired of that, and I know I'm not alone!” Borrowing the title phrase from the movie ALIENS, Kowalksi and his loose collective of bandmates crafted the tune by melding the proto-punk of Detroit band like The Stooges and The MC5 with the seemingly contradictory sunny California harmonies of The Jefferson Airplane and The Mamas & The Papas. It's a sound with a built-in tension that reflects the times.

“That's what D.F.E. does,” says Josh. “We're the masters of Sunshine Sludge because we made it up, and it seems like the perfect vehicle for this kind of sentiment. It's sort of like if CSNY went a little more toward the heavy end of the Crazy Horse spectrum.” The B-side has a bit of political angle too. “It's a song by this British band Christie. It was actually a pretty big hit but not too many people remember it. It was one of my dad's favorite songs and I think he associated it with coming back from Viet Nam. It just fits the band.”

D.F.E. (the name “is old internet slang for rage-quitting a forum in a fit of drama, deleting all your profiles, and then coming back a week later like nothing happened”) had been building a reputation for wild and unpredictable club shows before the 2020 pandemic struck. “There's no regular membership... it's me singing from behind the kit and whoever else from the local scene is willing to show up as long as they're willing to play and sing – but really learn and sing the harmonies. And follow the dress code... there's a costume theme for each gig.” That's included everything from the Scooby Doo gang to clowns (“people didn't like that one”) and anti-Trump Jedi knights (“that was a little abstract but people dug it”). The band's rep for spectacle and loose playing with tight harmonies was cutting a sharp figure on the Hamtramck scene before the pandemic. Josh is eager to reignite the fire when the time is right, but he's happy translating it to recordings for now.

The lineup on these tracks, besides Kowalski handling many of the instruments himself, features singers, guitarists and string players from various Michigan garage rock, psych and folk rock acts like Yeet, Burlap Sack of Regrets and The Mighty Unimpeachables. The big collective sound is part of the future recording plans for D.F.E., says Kowalski. “Right now all of the voices I'm assembling are kind of howling out in pain and frustration.I think that's a needed catharsis, for us and for the listeners. Maybe soon we'll have a reason to be harmonious over something positive. But that doesn't mean the band will get any quieter. We're gonna rock like hell and sing real pretty over top of it.”