Photo by Nikki Basette

Depending on your point of view when it comes to technology-induced nihilism, Landowner’s Dan Shaw is either post-punk’s town crier or a huge hypochondriac on the matter. Both work to his benefit on “Bow To Your Superior”, the final preview from the Holyoke band’s new album (and first for Exploding In Sound Records,) Assumption. The culprit to his pulpit of panic in this instance is the growing power of artificial intelligence and the way algorithmic personalization is already upending societal behaviors, be it the way we engage with culture, politics, or even the way we feel about ourselves. “User control! User control! Save your preferences!,” he shouts over a deep, steady bass line getting tangled up in Wi-Fi signals and electrical wire. You can try your best to log off on the matter, but you’ve likely submitted enough to its messy web at this point to be trapped inside of it whether you’re aware of it or not.

Landowner’s Assumption will be released February 27th on Exploding In Sound.