
Ploegendienst will play four shows in Flanders, Belgium, next month. Three-quarters of the Amsterdam-based band are no longer as furious as they once were, but Ray Fuego... He's still 100% anti-everything, "especially anti-everything people say you should be." Ploegendienst isn't the band you saw wrecking a bar last year, even though they might seem like it. Ploegendienst is "constant growth," "no fear"; a constant tension. The four challenge each other, get under each other's skin - and all that friction has never shone as brightly as on their latest album, DSM-5.
Call it hardcore, call it punk, call it "venomous pop music." Call it what you want, it doesn't matter. Ploegendienst works ruthlessly and only exists in the moment. That moment? A warm summer, allowing the unrest to escape through the open window now and then. In Frans Hagenaars' studio, as always with this quartet, "a dangerous cocktail is created that you could never concoct yourself," says bassist Bastiaan, "but it's quite tasty nonetheless." When the storm subsides, the water turns crystal clear. On DSM-5, Ray Fuego delves deep into his brain, diagnosing his own everyday mental battles. Not like "everyone who thinks they're a therapist because they've seen a one-minute TikTok." Just feel what you feel: depression, anger, despair. 'Ik heb geen agressieprobleem, ik ben gewoon agressief' (I don't have an aggression problem, I'm just aggressive,') rants Ray on the title track. Don't be what they cultivate in the classrooms, be the Stateless prince. Only listen to yourself, "otherwise the robots will take over."
Watch the videoclip for 'Interessant' featuring Spinvis