ANCHR's Artist of the Day: Floral Tattoo

Floral Tattoo’s new record You Can Never Have a Long Enough Head Start starts with a manifesto of sorts, giving explicit mission to the album. “Young gay people, living our lives in radical self-love/in an act of defiance against the people/who would like to see us torn down” they speak, softly. With a warm low-fi tone Floral Tattoo lets us know exactly who they are. They’re unapologetically trans and anti-capitalist, capturing a radically different coming-of-age narrative with soaring reverb. They question whether or not they’re good people, and in the same song questioning “when they’re tired of your abuse/will you tremble at the sight of the barrel?” of rich businessmen. Floral Tattoo works in a careful crescendo. There’s an exclamatory, even rowdy nature to some tracks (see ‘Leaving’) and a minimalist meditation in others. There’s a palpable pulse working through the album that desires survival. With crunchy guitars and full bass tones they create relief amongst the confusion. The band is revelatory despite minimum wage dredge and not being able to leave the house. Floral Tattoo are often miserable but they’re brave, brave enough to temporarily push aside the hurt and anger to celebrate themselves and their ability to carve out revolutions with their music. They’re willing to consider true moments of joy even when doom feels heavy on their chest and inevitable.