Track By Tracks: Derision Cult - Flyover Noise (2025)

At Glitchmode—which is more of an artist collective than a traditional label—we've been incredibly busy. Between scattered live shows, releases from Cyanotic and Derision Cult, remix projects, new tracks from The Boohoos and RewØund, plus a new project in development and an upcoming Sys Machine EP, there's been a lot happening.

The Derision Cult story with Glitchmode goes back to 2021, when Sean and I (Dave) began working on what would become Mercenary Notes Pt. 1 and 2. Over four years, we established a sonic template for those tracks, but as we looked toward the next chapter, we knew we didn't want to simply retread the same creative ground.

Fellow Glitchmode project Cyanotic released a widely acclaimed cover of Fluke's "Atom Bomb," which sparked conversations throughout summer 2025 about our '90s influences. For me personally, Sister Machine Gun was the gateway drug to industrial music. While I knew the mainstream acts like Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, and Marilyn Manson, SMG was my first real dive into what would become the Chicago sound.

Growing up in Iowa, we didn't get many industrial acts touring through (though I did catch Sister Machine Gun live). What we DID get was the Midwest Punk sound—bands like NIL8, House of Large Sizes, and The Goodyear Pimps were touring staples. Both NIL8 and The Goodyear Pimps hailed from Illinois (Springfield and Rockford, not Chicago).

As we discussed our sonic direction, we decided to jam on some '90s tracks as an exercise to dial in our next move. I immediately knew I wanted to cover Sister Machine Gun, but I also kept thinking about those Illinois bands that meant so much to me. Most people who follow Derision Cult probably haven't heard of these acts—we moved in different orbits. "Rocket Science" by The Goodyear Pimps has the perfect tempo for industrial treatment, and that main riff is absolutely HEAVY. When I showed it to Brad and Sean, they were immediately drawn to it too. We ended up covering "Better Than Me" by Sister Machine Gun. After considering several options, this felt right. I didn't want to do the obvious choices like "Sins of the Flesh" or "Burn." What always struck me about "Better Than Me" was its unusual mix—the foreground elements were pushed back, making the beat the dominant feature while the guitars remained audible but subdued. Ironically, this was the opposite of the original "Rocket Science" recording, where massive guitars practically buried the drums.

The story goes—and this may be urban legend—that "Better Than Me" (more specificall,y the album Burn, which it appears on) came out right when TVT acquired Wax Trax, with TVT pushing to get Wax Trax bands into as many film and TV placements as possible. The mix might have been intentionally subdued to make it easier for soundtrack placement. It must have worked, because "Better Than Me" appears on the Scream soundtrack and actually plays IN the movie, not just as a soundtrack bonus. However, when I saw Sister Machine Gun live, that track sounded massive. We knew if we could do one thing with our cover, it would be to bring those guitars forward. We applied a KMFDM-style sound and ran with it.

"Rocket Science" presented different challenges. I was the only one familiar with the track going in. The original vocal featured stylized delivery with rolled R's and theatrical vibes. We wanted to give it a more brutalist industrial sheen, so we delivered the verses straight ahead. The original's wah-wah and funk elements got replaced with cyber-industrial sounds. It was incredibly fun because that riff is SO memorable—it just sticks in your head. I can't wait to eventually perform it live!

This exercise proved successful, as afterward, demos for the next stage of Derision Cult began flowing freely in a genuinely new direction. We might be sharing those with the world in late 2026!