The new Typsy Panthre album Hell unleashes 11.11.19, Allison LaBonne discusses the title and cover photo.
The title comes from a photo John snapped of a Shell station near Winona where the “S” had fallen down. I was delighted by the idea that the entrance of hell could be so unceremonious. I was flooded with associations, like Rodin’s The Gates Of Hell and Dante’s Inferno and how countless artists have come up with dramatic and ornate imaginings of hell. This mundane version John captured spoke to me because of the humor and how it intertwines hell with everyday life. I think we both wondered was the title too dark? But it feels cathartic to acknowledge the hellishness of our lives. Our divisive political landscape, the harrowing outlook for our environment, but also the little hells of heartbreak and human frailty, juxtaposed with how life always manages to thrust merrily and absurdly onward. Without hell, can there be heaven?-Allison LaBonne
