Skip to main content

Good Riddance to Bin Laden: alt-J - "Left Hand Free" Official Video #1 (Infectious/Atlantic Records)


"And I say, "Gee [whiz]," which I'm not sure is a phrase I've ever uttered before. I can imagine it appealing to American truckers with Good Riddance to Bin Laden stickers," alt-J frontman Joe Newman recently told British publication The Guardian in a rather scathing band interview; Newman is of course referring to alt-J's latest single, "Left Hand Free," which the band said was only written to appease their American label because they didn't exactly feel teaser single, "Hunger of The Pine" was a "big single." alt-J's critically-acclaimed first album, An Awesome Wave (2012) was essentially heralded as the second coming of Radiohead, while "Left Hand Free" is more so along the lines of Black Keys or Jack White-ian Modern Blues-Rock. "I tried to make the drums as cliched as possible, there's none of my personality in it... I'm doing some kind of organ solo. I don't know where "baby" came from... Oh God, someone's going to walk onstage to it at an NRA convention," further lamented Newman's fellow bandmates Thom Green and Gus Unger-Hamilton.


Not entirely unlike the Beastie Boys' 1987 break-out hit, "Fight for Your Right," alt-J's latest This Is All Yours single may end up being one of those all-too-familiar industry cases where the biggest misrepresentation of said band just might accidentally end up being their most popular and likely, career-defining hit. Following all-star director Nabil's surreal video treatment for "Hunger of The Pine," alt-J unleashed their "Left Hand Free" video late last week; self-proclaimed "director, producer, writer, animator & designer" Ryan Staake has assembled your quintessential all-American video montage... chock-full of attractive model-esque teens drinking, partying, swimming, haphazardly lighting off fireworks, off-roading, and basically just enjoying the last of these quickly dwindling summer nights. For what it's worth, "Left Hand Free" is a pretty great song in it's own right, but it really is a far cry from alt-J's former progressive Art-Indie Rock hits, like "Fitzpleasure" and "Tessellate." Their long-rumored second album, This Is All Yours will finally see a world-wide release this upcoming September 22-23rd on Infectious/Atlantic Records and judging by what we've heard so far, it should be a pretty interesting listen.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Let Me Shine for You:" Lindsay Lohan for Playboy (Winter 2011-12 Leak)

Lindsay Lohan essentially embodies exactly "What NOT to Do In Hollywood :" Fame, fortune, success... sex, drugs & Rock "N" Roll . Within a fairly short period of time, Lohan somehow managed to obtain a plentiful helping of POWER @ a very young age. This gradual rise-downfall was captured on film; Between 1998-2010, she portrayed a wide array of roles across the silver screen in movies including: Mean Girls, Bobby , Herbie Fully Loaded , Georgia Rule, Machete , and Freaky Friday . Between rapid-paced film shoots, Lindsay Lohan also found time to record 2 Pop Rock albums for Casablanca , Speak (2004) and A Litter More Personal-Raw (2005). Needless to say, Lindsay Lohan has gotten roped up in a lot of troubles and woes with the law over the last 3-5 years... a vicious cycle of drugs, arrest, court, rehab, "daddy issues," jail time [Repeat]. That's the pure basics of it - But Google that shit for additional info, if necessary. Towards the end of
1 comment
Read more

[W]reckless, Topless American Youth: Lana del Rey - "Born 2 Die" (Britney Spears Birthday 30)

Lana del Rey [Lizzy Grant] effectively became 2011's "It Girl" with the release of her phenomenal debut single, "Video Games" (Stranger) . Like many struggling singer-songwriters, Grant has been signed, dropped, and significantly changed her public image since bursting onto the scene (2009). With that said, it can be assumed that Lana del Rey has collected just as many "haters" as she has avid supporters. To be perfectly honest, the only other artist I can think of that made this much commotion... garnered so much wide-spread buzz/hate and critical acclaim -- right out of the gates -- with just one track is Britney Spears . And maybe in this post- Mike musical era, that's the true synthesis of Pop Culture: Britney Lynn Spears . After months of repeated teasing and speculation, Lana del Rey 's major label debut, Born 2 Die will [finally] be released this coming Jan. 30-31, 2012. Pitchfork reports that it will feature "Off to The Ra
3 comments
Read more

Liberty Bell Cracked In 1/2: Ween - "Freedom of '76" (Gene Ween's Final Send-Off)

Chocolate & Cheese (1994) was one of the first albums I bought with my own money. I was in some sort of BMG Music Club , where you'd buy 5 CD's and then get 10 for "FREE." It was all sent through mail order and you picked the titles from some special booklet. I'm almost positive that Chocolate & Cheese's side boob-baring album cover was what initially drew me in... mind you, I was 12-15 and the zany Ween logo/middle finger CD graphic really didn't hurt either. Honestly, I forget how I really felt about it @ the time, but a few years later, my older cousin Josh told me that Ween were this BIG college "jam band." CKY did some sort pf 93.3 radio takeover to promote their new album and played "Freedom of '76" late that night on air. Needless to say, I re-visited Chocolate & Cheese @ about 20-something this go 'round and I fucking loved it! Ween were really weird, yet talented... almost too talented. I can vaguel
1 comment
Read more