Track By Tracks: Alien Cargo - In The Goldilocks Zone (2021)

1.The Circular Ruins:

"The Circular Ruins" is the opening song on the album. The lyrics are strongly inspired by the short story with the same name by Jorge Luis Borges, and deal with creativity and the mysterious aspect of creating something out of nothing. Musically, it is quite dark and heavy, with a catchy coda almost worthy of Turbonegro. It is one of the oldest songs on the record, and dates from the first bundle of Alien Cargo songs written in 2018/2019.

2.Hellbent Replicant:

“Hellbent Replicant” is a nihilistic blast of garage rock with a surprisingly moral lyric. The main theme is the natural consequence of developing and then neglecting artificial intelligence - the ignored responsibility of the creator. It is also a satisfying rock song with a fun and catchy chorus.

3.Clones:

“Clones” is the ultimate contradiction: a pop song that is also a satiric comment on conformity in modern society, mostly the music industry. It describes a system where brand new dummies are handed second-hand scripts and made to go through the motions. The more they erase their own personalities, the more success they are guaranteed. Rebel and be ridiculed - the herd has the last word.

4.Deepfake:

“Deepfake” is a love song, and thus stands out from the rest of the songs on the new album. Still, it fits in with the band’s universe lyrically. It was the last song in this batch to be written, and can be said to hint of a warmer and more empathetic tone for the next Alien Cargo project. It also expands the musical palette of the band, with bass player Alex contributing mandolin on the track.

5. All The Incel Tinker Bells:

“All The Incel Tinker Bells” is a warm and fuzzy rock song. It is an attempt at a more interesting and nuanced treatment of the whole incel-thing, instead of the usual condemnation or easy ridicule. After a calm opening introducing the incels and drawing some parallels to characters from literature and mythology, the song moves into a chaotic final confrontation between the healthy, successful people on one side and the threatening incels on the other. Naturally, it has an open ending.

6.Nixieland:

“Nixieland” is a guided tour through a newly discovered and intimidating area, which can be interpreted in several ways. The lyrics are a chain of nightmarish observations where fairy tales, science fiction literature and reality are mixed together until it is hard to tell them apart. The uncanny atmosphere is strengthened by the spooky backing vocals towards the end of the track, like the alluring song of the siren.

6.Death & The Historian:

“Death & The Historian” is about a historian who travels back in time to explore how people used to live in the Middle Ages. Due to some random accident, she ends up in The Black Death and has to use all her knowledge to survive. After having miraculously survived and come back to our own era, she catches Covid-19 and dies because of a shattered immune system. The lyrics are partly inspired by the novel “Doomsday Book” by Connie Willis, and the music is darker and more drone-based than the other songs.

7.The Green Stuff Dreams Are Made Of:

“The Green Stuff Dreams Are Made Of” is a one-act tragedy about idealism giving way to resignation. It is also, along with “Hellbent Replicant”, the most punk-inspired song on the album. With that in mind, it is natural to assume that the green stuff in the title refers to money.

8.The Lynx:

“The Lynx” can be described as The Who’s “Tommy”-narrative updated to the 22. Century and compressed into one song, divided into three distinct parts. The story is about a character nicknamed The Lynx and a virtual reality game called “Glacier World IV”, developed by the authorities to deal with misfits and outcasts. Musically, it moves from a pastoral introduction to an angry hard-rock sound, before concluding on a more psychedelic note.