Photo By: Jim Louvau
In exchange for screen time, we receive curated content delivered in all of its algorithmic wisdom. While the algorithm is far from human, the tech giants that control them are. As a result, corporations have opened a Pandora’s Box of fear, paranoia and tribalism through our devices. On their new single, “Parasite,” alt-rock outfit Jane N’ The Jungle begins by establishing some subtle, techno-dystopian vibes. More so, “Parasite” is a scathing anthem about our collective nature and tendency for turning against one another.
When it wants to make its presence known, “Parasite” shuns the delicateness of the velvet glove in favor of wielding the brutality of the medieval mace. Case in point, the opening, humming resonance is reduced to smithereens by the first wrecking ball chorus slamming its way through. When everything feels topsy-turvy, when you don’t know which way to turn, sometimes you need someone to rattle your cage. Atmospherically, “Parasite” fits that bill, begging to snap you out of the reality that wasn’t created by you, but, instead, for you.
Initially, “Parasite” drops plenty of tech-adjacent breadcrumbs. “Branded numbers” evoke a binary, bar-coded existence, while “all the block chain leaves a blockade” is about becoming inhibited by mere ones and zeros. Altogether, the opening two verses feel as if they were set in a submissive, tech-pocalypse world. In addition, “Parasite” is about labeling people as the symptom, not the cure. As Jordan White so viscerally expresses it, “we are the parasite, we are the cause and curse, we are the consequence, this is now our war.” In that vein, “Parasite” is about how people feed off of one another, contributing to a larger collapse.
Furthermore, “Parasite” takes a jab at how we all choose which hills we are determined to die on. “Caught up in our confidence, always stuck on high defense” refers to becoming beyond steadfast in your beliefs to the point of fanaticism. “Parasite” may have planted the techno overlord seed, but it isn’t shy to point the finger squarely in our faces for giving into our nature.
One of the more enduring lyrics, “this is now our war,” could not be more apt. We have always had our battles, but some are more self-inflicted than others. “Parasite” recognizes how we dig into our trenches in a time of proliferating, ideological warfare. In the process, Jane N’ The Jungle introduces a veil of techno-malevolence as the conduit for our self-destructive tendencies.
Written by Travis Boyer
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