Another in the long list of (every) band that has had tours and festival appearances cancelled as a result of the Coronavirus – by the way, the irony of bands presciently singing about the plague lo these many years who are now sitting at home because of it is maddeningly and sickeningly ironic – are Minneapolis’ noise rock weirdos, New Primals. The trio which has been described as “straddling the line between the burly noise-rock of the AmRep scene (Cows, The Jesus Lizard) and the sassy dance-punk made famous by labels like Three One G (Arab on Radar, Ex Models)” had their bags packed and ready for a three-week U.S. tour in support of their debut full-length, Horse Girl Energy when shit went sour. So, instead of hitting the road, they picked up a couple of cameras to film a new video to be exclusively aired on Decibel’s website today.
Actually, the video for “Coma Fiend” was completed last week before their tour was kibosh-ed and puts another notch in the belt for a band who prize quality visual representation (see the video below for previous singles “Modern Lover” and “Soft Bullet”) as much as they do topsy-turvy angularity and music that treasures uncomfortable dissonance as much as boot-knockin’ shimmying.
When asked about the song, guitarist/vocalist Sam Frederick had this to say:
“When we set out to write ‘Coma Fiend,’ we were actually in the process of writing the songs for our first EP, Wraith. At that point in time, the whole focus behind the music was to keep things short, loud and abrasive as fuck – like a Chinchilla on speed. The lyrics sort of have to do with accepting and reconciling with mental illness in the Information Age, and how social media can exacerbate feelings of isolation. This is the third video we’ve made with director Adam Jacobs. He’s an incredible talent and we’re beyond excited about what we’ve made with this one.”
And, as promised (and because most of us have nothing but time on our hands) here’s the band’s previous video, “Modern Lover”
And “Soft Bullet”
Additionally, because the band’s hometown album release show was also nixed, they ended up live streaming a proxy gig from a local studio/rehearsal spot. The video of last weekend’s virtual gathering, including openers Birth Order and scenes from the change over between sets, can be seen below. Make sure to keep an eye on the comments flashing along the right-hand side; some of my favourites include “Can we smoke in here?” and “Where’s the after party at?”
