Watch Out for Snakes recently dropped a new single, “Fight Those Invisible Ninjas,” and I’ve probably listened to it at least a few dozen times already if not more since its release. It’s very catchy, for one thing, with that patented chipwave sound which WOFS is known for as the track blends a unique balance between head-banging hardcore and head-bopping pop. Which makes sense, due in part to “fighting invisible ninjas” being a term for dancing in the hardcore scene; something I was personally unware of until I read a review of the song over on Synthpocalypse. Yes, I truly lived a sheltered life and have proven once again that I really know absolutely nothing about music.
Regardless, I do know that this song rules… for more than just one reason!
For me, when I think of “fighting invisible ninjas,” I think of those ninjas representing certain afflictions within me that I cannot see but constantly struggle against every day such as depression, anxiety, self-doubt, impostor syndrome, etc. One thing that I often find myself doing with certain songs, especially those which really hit me in “the feels,” is to come up with an imaginary music video in my mind. As previously mentioned, I’ve listened to the track a lot already and yet it still continuously gets me hyped up each time to the point where I can actually see myself fighting all of those proverbial ninjas.
That isn’t meant to take anything away from the actual music video for the song, which Watch Out For Snakes produced themselves. It’s simplistic, yet still effective with such quick cuts and eye-catching visuals. Check it out, right’chere:
If anything, it’s a testament to the power that a song can have despite not having any lyrics; something which synthwave, and its many subgenres and/or adjacents, have always excelled at rather well. Now, I should emphasize that I’m not trying to put words into the mouth of WOFS. I can only once again personally attest to what the song means to me and that’s a rallying cry for fighting back against what holds you back. To be less vague, I think it’s been apparent for a while now that my updates on this website have grown fewer and far between as well as my other endeavors outside of it such as streaming over on Twitch.
I plan to rectify this going forward from here on out. I should make things even clearer by saying that you won’t be seeing daily updates from me on here, nor will I even attempt to review everything in the synthwave scene (like I once foolishly tried to do before and only ended up burning myself out), as the overall scope of this website will shift towards being more of a freeform blog wherein I’ll just write about whatever, whenever. Some might like it and some might not care, while others probably won’t even be able to tell the difference… but I will.
After all, in the end, only I can really fight those invisible ninjas who plague me… and I can’t let them win.
Watermelon Banzai 