“Chew” is the new single from British doom/noise rock/post-rock duo NOISEPICKER, the song found on the band’s impending second album, The Earth Will Swallow The Sun, out March 21st via Exile On Mainstream Records. An incredibly entertaining video for “Chew” made its public debut today through a premiere hosted by The Obelisk.
The video for “Chew” was created, filmed, and edited by NOISEPICKER guitarist/vocalist Harry Armstrong, who reveals, “The two of us live on opposite sides of the country, which makes getting together tricky at times. To the point where we never rehearse. Apart from two songs, we had only played the entire new album together when we entered the studio to record it. And those two tracks were only ever played during soundcheck, an hour before we played them live. Which probably explains a lot! This means we need to be ‘inventive’ when thinking about videos, basically making sure that we are not the main focus of them. We grab footage of each other when we can and store it up in case it's needed. That's where the puppet idea came from. I couldn't get both of us in the same room, so I had to improvise. I think it actually makes for a better video! The song is about hating what you've become after chasing the expectations of an unfulfilling society, and only realizing you've been had when it's far too late. You've been played. Like a puppet on a string. Enjoy!”
The Obelisk writes in part, “With a sound that’s almost as ’90s noise rock as the band’s logo treatment on the front cover, the three-minute cut rides in on a harsher/harder tonalism and crunching groove. Melvins are an immediate touchstone in terms of sound, but ‘Chew’ has a bit of reach in its chorus and is more about craft than its own weirder facets. The melody in the hook reaches up from deep in the mix with Facelift-era Alice In Chains desperation, and the shifts between the verse and chorus hint in sound toward the punkish ideology driving the shove… Sans-bullshit heavy crunch? With a chorus? I know; be still my beating heart.”