‘Paper Cutout’ is the first single and video from the upcoming new album, ‘eine kleine jukebox baby’ of Oakland California post-punk rock band, Everyone Is Dirty. The album is set for release on October 30.
‘Paper Cutout’ is a sonic pop art piece; it calls to mind Scritti Politti (if you know you know) but then there’s the local Oakland sound as well, it’s part pop, part rock, part psychedelic funk – and all parts are fab.
The accompanying video, with its jarring colours and vibing scan lines like something’s gone terribly wrong with the old telly box, is the creation of video artist, Zachary Rodell, who did the projections for Everyone Is Dirty’s last show before Covid-19. Opening for Luna, Rodell created visuals encorporating glitchy underwater footage, and after the show the band asked if he’d be up for creating a video for ‘Paper Cutout’. Of course, he said yes.
Speaking of the video creation process, Rodell says he “used liquid art and song references of content as the backdrop for this video.”
Sivan Lioncub of the band edited the 6 minutes 28 seconds video, and then Rodell further worked on it, as he explains, he
“took that edit and added multiple layers of glitch analog circuit bent video, with processors and a French video encryptor, blending them together. The result is this pop art painting with scan lines.”
The album was initially meant to be an homage to Sivan Lioncub’s grandfather, Henry Drejer, who was a survivor of the Holocaust, but as 2020 progressed, the band realised the album was taking on a more WWIII prophesy aspect; with its blissful, dreamy songs, captured between other more violent tracks.
Sivan says,
“Paper Cutout is about escaping through everyday objects into a magical world of fantasy and euphoria. I go from contemplating my edges on a mattress to becoming a hummingbird flying around the world. At 3:46, the dream gets jolted into a new reality. Evil, stark, scary vortex. The troops come marching in. The fantasy explodes, and we are left with this evil fear demon world. Dark days. We are living through some dark days.”
With Sivan on vocals and electric violin, Tyler English on bass, Jake Kopulsky on drums, the track was mixed and recorded by Chris Daddio, in the recording studio he shares with Sivan. It’s a song which pulls you in and pushes you away simultaneously; experimental sounds jar glaringly with perfectly executed notes. It’s magnificent.
You can find out more about Everyone Is Dirty and their sound online on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. ‘eine kleine jukebox baby’ is out November 30. Enjoy ‘Paper Cutout’ below.
