Videos
LA punks The Paranoyds talk “Carnage Bargain” video
“We’re living in the dystopian future”
Los Angeles-based punk band The Paranoyds are anything but conventional. The foursome are on the cusp of releasing their debut album Carnage Bargain this coming September and have been making a lot of noise. Musically, they’ve got elements of proto, indie, and early punk- but have forgone conventional genre sensibilities to meld the best of punk’s frenzied urgency with the artful tones of indie rock’s most captivating sounds.
Fresh from the release of their latest music video for the title track, we spoke to bassist and vocalist Lexi Funston of the band to talk their sound, their music video aesthetic, and how today’s manic society has influenced their music.
I love the video’s aesthetics- where did the concept of the video come from?
Funston: Staz has this digital camera that was probably top-of-the-line in 2007 or something. It takes classic “Myspace” type photos and really grainy, but nice, videos. We wanted it to feel like a video we would have made in high school.
How was the shoot? Where did you guys shoot the video?
Funston: Everything was filmed during our most recent summer tour. There were some long drives, so when it felt right or if we needed a break from being in the van, we would pull over and film some stuff on the side of the road. America has a lot of beautiful landscapes.
It continues on the creative, unconventional videos you’ve done- “Girlfriend Degree” and “Hungry Sam” previously. Were there music videos or films that have influenced your visual style?
Funston: Our past two music videos were definitely influenced by like D-horror films, John Waters, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure and things along those lines; we love being camp and over-exaggerating things. But this one was different for us–we just wanted to do something that was like a fun, summer sing-along.
You worked with drummer David Ruiz and Max Flick on the video- what were some of the reasons you felt they were the best choice for the video?
Funston: David always had a vision for the scene whenever we would pull over to film something. He’s very patient and has a good eye. And we worked with Max on our previous video, “Girlfriend Degree”–he’s so good at what he does it’s crazy. He came to our rehearsal space and filmed us a few times and then took all the footage we took on the road and was able to turn it into a goofy, energetic video. Both David and Max definitely got across who The Paranoyds are.
So while the video is quite fun- the song itself is about something a lot of more serious (people higher up wanting to get all this evil work done at a wholesale price) right? Do you explore a lot of these themes on the new album?
Funston: Lately, we’ve been writing more about contemporary events (it’s hard not to). We have songs about being an empowered woman, the ills of social media, cyber-stalking, etc… but we also have songs about having to do laundry on a hot day and wanting to be a bear to hibernate during winter.
Was the idea for the video being a little less serious something you wanted to do and were there other ideas you thought about doing?
Funston: Despite the lyrical content, the song itself is upbeat and we always imagined filming something that was more on the light-hearted side.
The Paranoyds new album, Carnage Bargain, is set for release September 13th on Suicide Squeeze.
Not too long ago we had a short chat with Canadian pop-punk band Hangtime about their new EP and the video for the track “One Nine Nine Five”. The aptly titled song is a throwback to a pop punk thought long gone but as this Toronto band will attest, is by no means dead. Now the band have debuted their new music video for the track “Can I Take You Out”; a sweetly romantic, melodic pop punk ode.
The track is a cut from their 2019 EP Invasion, which you can pick up via Bandcamp. Hangtime have a couple of upcoming Canadian shows on the horizon; with all the details available on their Facebook page.
When we spoke to the band and where their sound comes from, guitarist/vocalist Warren Gregson explained their influences;
“There’s no escaping the 90s sound I’m afraid, that’s just who we are. Actually, our biggest influences go back further than that. Most of us were first listening to bands like ALL, Misfits, Dag Nasty, Big Drill Car, Bad Religion, Doughboys, Nils… etc, back in the 80’s. I suppose that’s where the 90s sound for many other bands originated as well.”
Check out the new video and let’s reminisce about some good old school pop punk.
New York indie rockers Longwave are returning with their first album in a decade. Titled If We Ever Live Forever, the album is the follow-up to 2008’s Secrets Are Sinister. The band have recently been releasing new music over the last year, with the single “Stay With Me” hitting airwaves in October of last year. Longwave have now revealed the music video for the new song “If We Ever Live Forever”, which you can view above.
If We Ever Live Forever is due for release October 25th via Bodan Kuma Recordings and will be followed by a short run of dates through the eastern side of North America. You can pre-order the new Longwave album from the band’s webstore.
Longwave first burst on to the scene with 2000’s Endsongs, but really started making waves with their 2003 release The Strangest Things (which included the hit single “Tidal Wave”). The latter was the band’s major label debut for RCA Records. We last covered Longwave in 2005, reviewing their terrific album There’s A Fire.
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