Chinese American Bear - "No No Yeah Yeah (不不好啊好啊)"

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Photo by Eleanor Petry

Chinese American Bear are a Seattle based duo consisting of married couple Anne Tong and Bryce Barston. Their latest single, "No No Yeah Yeah (不不好啊好啊)," is an insanely fun two minute burst of indie pop. We've described songs as infectious before, but nothing we've covered is an infectious as this release. The song has a kind of cut and paste feel to it, much like you get with a mash-up track. It's light and airy feeling with a danceable beat, and if you're looking for a way to inject yourself with joy, there aren't many better ways than listening to "No No Yeah Yeah (不不好啊好啊)." Chinese American Bear might be the most enjoyable artist we've covered in quite a while, and this is perfect if you need a little escapism at this point in time.

Chinese American Bear say of their new single:

"This song came about one day because we were joking about wanting to write a song using only 'No' and 'Yeah.' Can we make a song with such simple lyrics, be engaging and fun still? It felt like the ultimate test. We obviously failed because we added some other lyrics. haha. But it was fun writing with those constraints because it forced us to get creative with different melodies. It's easier thinking of melodies when you don't have to think about the lyrics, so it lent itself to that well. We came up with too many melodies in the end, and had to whittle it down. There are so many melodies and rhythms flying around all the No's and Yeah's. It feels jam packed, but the arrangement is sparse to help combat the busyness. Just a thumping bass synth, heavily processed drums, and some glittery stuff here and there. Bryce's favorite part of the song is the little reverb'ed out bridge into the last verse. The chord progression changes for the last verse, just that once, and it's really pretty for a moment, then transitions out of it quickly. Our next challenge will be to write a song with only one word!"

You can watch the video for "No No Yeah Yeah (不不好啊好啊)" below. The single is out now on Moshi Moshi Records. For more on Chinese American Bear, check out the artist on Facebook and Instagram.

On Repeat...

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There's a new Limp Bizkit video, because sure, why not?

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Earlier this week I was expressing sympathy for Limp Bizkit. Limp Bizkit just don't seem to be riding that surge of 90s nostalgia that all sorts of other terrible bands from that era are. Sure, they're terrible. But are they really  that much worse than Filter, Alien Ant Farm, and other bands on those 90s nostalgia packages. And then this video is released. The first lyrics to the song are literally "Go fuck yourself." It then features Fred Durst sitting on a toilet, bikini clad chicks pretending to fellate garden hoses and leaf blowers, and Fred Durst talking about fucking bitches, all while wearing a hoodie and a backwards red baseball hat. Then Lil Wayne comes out. Please keep in mind Fred Durst is a 42 year old man.
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