Standout Track: “Waltz Demise,” the first release from new three-piece synth-wave band Technophobia. The song channels a feeling of being lost in ink-black darkness. “Oh godhead/Can’t you hear me/Screaming through this misery/With arms spread/To exhaustion/Please take this life away from me,” belts out vocalist Denman Anderson, a Logan Circle resident. It’s not exactly subtle. “There’s not a lot of hidden symbolism there,” Anderson says.

Musical Motivation: The track was inspired by technology and existentialism, says programmer and synth player Stephen Petix. “To me, existentialism and being an atheist is, you know, you’re born alone, you live alone, you die alone, and all you have is your own existence,” he says. “I feel, through technology, people cocoon themselves away from conventional interactions. And I find a very strong irony in that.” The band’s name comes from Daniel Dinello’s book, which explores the utopic and dystopic outcomes of an unnatural dependence on machines, says Petix.

Where the Beats Have No Name: “Waltz Demise” wouldn’t be out of place at a goth dance night, but the band’s members want to be clear: They are not goth. Nor darkwave. Nor industrial. And so on. “I feel like these labels don’t necessarily exist right now,” says synth player and vocalist Katie Petix, who lives in Petworth with Stephen. “What’s happening right now is much more a fusion of a lot of different genres.” For Anderson, the band’s categorization is simple: He wanted to “make a pop band, but a pop band that made sense to me.”

Listen to “Waltz Demise” after the jump.