Make no mistake: Gateway Drugs is back with ten tracks to shake us all out of our collective stupor. Following up on their 2015 debut LP ‘Magick Spells’ (Dine Alone) comes ‘PSA’, a record that retains their characteristic impassioned, noisy, reckless and melodic shoegazy, psychedelic sound, which Hellbound likened to “The Stooges meets My Bloody Valentine and the Brian Jonestown Massacre —a little dark, a little eerie and a little grainy and all intoxicating.” Produced by Sune Rose Wagner of the Raveonettes, the album was recorded live at Josh Homme’s Pink Duck Studios. The result is raw, wild and chaotic, much like the last few years of the band members’ lives. Liv, Noa and Gabe Niles, the three siblings that make up the LA-based quartet, are joined by longtime friend James Sanderson on bass/guitar, whom they met and formed an instant bond with back in 2010 while on a tour of the US.
Today they release their second single “Slumber” featuring lead vocals by Gabe, the song is a reflection on unrequited love, with all the attendant rejection. The video however takes a different twist as the band invites viewers into a day in their life. “Videos nowadays tend to be overly cinematic or pretentious. The songs get lost and leaves little room for the listeners imagination. We wanted to keep it simple, sincere, and true to form, so we shot and edited the video ourselves”. With a sensibility steeped in rock ‘n’ roll rectitude, the band say “We hope you like it. Come hang with the gang.”
“Slumber” follows the release of the album’s lead single “Wait (Medication)”which is about “Falling in love with madness. When sustenance is stolen and your vice becomes your friend, your lover. Romanticization of loneliness and despair. The delight of debauchery and the consequences of excess,” according to the band. En route you’ll also also encounter musings that are a bit more personal, such as “I’m Always Around,” sung by Liv Niles, a real look inside a failing relationship. Meanwhile, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” an allusion to Gil Scott-Heron’s ground breaking 1971 track, is perhaps the most overt expression of PSA’s overall theme. This fuzz-bass driven dirge is a take on how rebellion, protest, counter-culture and what they represent and mean have been manipulated, packaged, commodied and sold back to us in ads for jeans and car insurance.
“PSA” is an album that reflects “everything that is wrong in the here and now: the weaknesses of the world laid bare, and the almost total state of apathy we all find ourselves in due to feeling powerless to effect any change with respect to all this,” says the band. “PSA” is an attempt to connect with others who feel the same way and regain a sense of our ability to change things for the better.
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Ever heard of Poppy Jean Crawford?
You should check her out. Local 21 year old signed to dangermouse’s label.
pretty interesting back story –
21 year old chrissie hynde meets deborah harry looks wise
big giant voice like PJ Harvey
plays her guitar like Kevin sheilds meeting Thurston Moore
Check out her video or ep on spotify.
Hope you like it. Great story on Gateway drugs!