Though modern life has always had its flaws, to my mind these days it feels more rotten than ever. There are plenty of ways in which society is crumbling, plenty of equally valid directions to point the blame, but one of the most frustrating plagues poisoning our culture is the sudden tidal wave of AI slop. I can’t type anything into Google without having to scroll past some completely inaccurate AI summary. Every time I walk down the street I see a dozen businesses being promoted with the most garish and hideous AI posters. It’s all so infuriatingly mindless; no care for truth or beauty. I am at least heartened to find kindred spirits in my favourite funk pop outfit Similar Kind, as their savvy new single ‘The Curtain’ offers a shrewd and scathing takedown of the whole affair. Though the deliciously groovy arrangement of deep synths and snazzy sax is everything I’ve come to expect from the band, their lyricism is on another level here. Not only do the band astutely dissect the inane key-jingling nature of AI itself (“don’t waste your time on reality, you’ll find I’m everything you need“), but also take aim at the ulterior motives of the tech giants pulling the strings (“please pay no attention to the man behind the curtain“).