Have A Nice Life

Have A Nice Life

Voids

Flenser

With the broader adoption of the internet around the turn of the century, how people would engage with and discover underground music would change forever. As a result of the new digital era, DIY was now worldwide, and no band embraced this new frontier better than Have A Nice Life. Formed in 2000 by duo Dan Barrett and Tim Macuga, the Middletown, CT-based pair would, throughout the 00s, self-release and share a number of demos and home recordings via early social media channels as well as establish its in-house label Enemies List Home Recordings. These first steps set in motion Have A Nice Life’s rise to renown as an icon of underground music in the internet age, culminating with the release of its pivotal 2008 debut album, Deathconsciousness. Through word of mouth and online discussion, Deathconsciousness became subject to viral praise thanks to its synthesis of bleak post-punk, lo-fi shoegaze, and carpets of hypnotic drone music. Eventually, this humble self-released project would attain the status of a post-internet cult classic, amassing Have A Nice Life a fervent online following that the band would interact with in kind. In an effort to thank and continue to engage with Have A Nice Life’s internet cult following, Barrett and Macuga would regularly share links to old demos, works in progress, and outtakes from the recording of Deathconsciousness. Over time, a group of fans would compile these demos into an unofficial release. Dubbed Voids, this fan-made compilation several alternate takes of tracks from...

Have A Nice Life

(Deluxe) Deathconsciousness

Flenser

In 2008, Have A Nice Life released their now cult classic Deathconsciousness album to a whimper and critical non-interest. Six years after its release the band followed up with 2014’s stunner The Unnatural World, and by then Deathconsciousness had become a force of influence and fanatic obsession. Seamlessly blending shoegaze, post punk, new wave, industrial and noise with unparalleled depth and weight, the album was originally released by Enemies List Home Recordings founded by HANL members Dan Barrett and Tim Macuga. Now, longtime HANL collaborator The Flenser will reissue Deathconsciousness on the long-requested CD format, with a deluxe packaging option, including the lengthy accompanying zine and housed in a heavy box. The 75-page booklet accompanying the deluxe format of Deathconsciousness details the dark and forgotten history of the Antiochean cult. Blurring the lines between novella, liner notes, and academic text, the zine itself presents an engrossing narrative. The corresponding album is rhythmic, primal and expansive, and is a gloomy-post-punk masterpiece—a mediation on death, loss and existence. It feels more fresh and engaging with every listen and has held up as a remarkable piece of art. Fans of Have A Nice Life exhibit both cultic thought and action for good reason—it is perhaps a fanbase as dark and mysterious as the Antiochean’s, which the album itself revolves around.

Have A Nice Life

Sea Of Worry

Flenser

***BACK IN STOCK!!!  Received a 7.4 rating from Pitchfork.  Have A Nice Life was formed in a time of Dan Barrett and Tim Macuga’s life that reflected concerns with depression and suicidal ideation. As the following for the project has grown, and Barrett and Macuga have aged and faced new life challenges with family and careers, their new album Sea Of Worry reflects just that. Dread is the primary theme that is woven throughout this release—the dread of aging, children growing up, and an increasingly uncertain future.  However, Sea Of Worry is Have A Nice Life at the peak of their powers: Barrett and Macuga’s unmistakable chemistry coupled with a propulsive backing band catapults them into stratosphere. These seven tracks ebb and flow with noise and melody, and are so well-crafted it’s near impossible to get them out of one’s head.  More concise and perhaps more straightforward than their past releases, Have A Nice Life has found new focus and discipline on Sea Of Worry and the album is a triumphant addition to their ever-evolving discography.

Have A Nice Life

Deathconsciousness

Flenser

***Available on both black and mint colored vinyl. Have a Nice Life released their debut double-album Deathconsciousness in 2008 to a whimper and critical non-interest; six years later, the band followed it up with 2014’s stunner The Unnatural World. In the meantime, Deathconsciousness has become a cult classic whose seamless blend of shoegaze, post-punk, new wave, industrial and noise influences inspires fanatic obsession. Now, longtime Have a Nice Life collaborator The Flenser reissues Deathconsciousness on colored vinyl with deluxe packaging. The band commented, “Working with Flenser lets us keep things comfortable on our end, while also pressing enough copies to actually meet the need and not creating an artificially inflated collector’s market, as happened with some of our past releases.” Rhythmic, primal and expansive, Deathconsciousness offers a meditation on death, loss and unrequited love, with repeated listens revealing new layers of depth and meaning. The Flenser’s reissue is accompanied by a 75-page booklet detailing the dark and forgotten history of the Antiochean cult—an engrossing narrative that blurs the lines between liner notes, novella and academic text. “Deathconsciousness is probably a perfect record” —Last Train To Cool “A masterpiece of depression” —The Quietus “85-minute powerhouse of a double-album” —The Needle Drop “Have a Nice Life’s Deathconsciousness could quite possibly move the Earth” —Sputnik Music (5/5 rating)

Have A Nice Life

The Unnatural World

Flenser

***BACK IN STOCK!!! Received a 7.8 rating from Pitchfork. For years, fans of Connecticut’s post-industrial doomgaze two-piece Have a Nice Life have restlessly awaited the band’s second gloom-fueled, autobiographical meditation. Now, San Francisco label The Flenser is proud to unleash The Unnatural World. With eight songs clocking in at 47 minutes, The Unnatural World is Have a Nice Life’s most monumental release yet—a colossal, perfectly orchestrated work that leaves listeners comatose on the ground beside their record players. This second full-length delivers doom and gloom at a new level, more focused and soul-tearing than ever. The weight of sound is matched only by the band’s piercingly uncomfortable and personal lyrics dredging up themes of modern legend, religious insecurity and crushing depression. Wave after overwhelming wave will slam listeners down into psychological depths of existentialism and woe.  Like its predecessor, the band’s 2008 debut Deathconsciousness, The Unnatural World maintains intensity from quiet lows to staggering highs. No speaker will do it justice and none of you are worthy!  “[Have a Nice Life’s] Tim Macuga and Dan Barrett’s musical project is as much an ambitious and frustrating piece of conceptual art as it is a crushing and soaring rock record.” —Brainwashed12.85