War Tapes have released their first new music in ten years.
Post-punk rock band War Tapes have released their first new music in ten years, and for one of the music videos from their new EP, they recruited trans star Mz Neon to act in it.
City Girls is the third track from their new five-song EP, Only Time Will Tell. The band describe the song as an “anthemic” track that will “embody the salient qualities of the band’s prior work while reflecting the band’s vibrant new sense of focus.”
The surreal music video sees Mz Neon across a whole city, in places like a graveyard and a city boulevard, as well as on a rainbow staircase, while the band perform in a dimly-illuminated club. At times, lead singer Neil Popkin performs alongside Mz Neon in the club’s bathroom as she brushes her hair and prepares herself.
You can watch the music video here or below.
Not only is this music the first from War Tapes for ten years, but it’s also their first for the independent MAKE Records label, in which the band’s drummer Billy Mohler is a partner.
On this new EP, lead singer and guitarist Neil Popkin said: “These songs pull from our post-punk roots, but also dive deeper into our love for bands like the Clash and Talking Heads.
“We started making various bedroom demos, sending them back and forth, and slowly but surely developed a new sound that we all were vibing with. We then got into Billy’s home studio and recorded these songs. We believe we’ve all gotten better at our instruments since we first started War Tapes, and so the recording process was very fluid and natural.”
He added: “I think that we sound like that nostalgic feeling of something you just lost but can’t remember what it was, and yet you miss having it.”
Jenny Rolapp
Speaking about the process of making the EP after so much time away, Neil said: “This EP was the result of us not getting to do what we love for five-plus years. It just slid out of us, like a birth.
“Some of the songs came from demos that were made on my crappy laptop, and we ended up keeping a lot of those scratch tracks and building around them. Other songs were recorded in Billy’s home studio.
Some of them were created by mistake, or by hearing one loop and the next thing you know it’s six hours later and there’s a completed song. We didn’t push things too hard, they just happened.
“The music is more sophisticated and more honest now, yet also more stripped down and raw. We used to want to add all these sonic elements and layers and production tricks, but now we just want the truth.
“On Only Time Will Tell, we wrote, played, recorded and mixed everything on our own. I think that’s the only way that this band can make new music that makes sense.
“We aren’t interested in working with hotshot producers or mixers at this point. Just give me a guitar and a mic and hit record! Vibey takes with no overdubs and good honest performances. Less clutter. The songs get to breathe.”
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