Chosen by Monk
The Bristol trio take us into the seedy world of their local #DrugstoreCowboy with this latest sample from their upcoming debut album, which has now been confirmed for an April release.
Speaking about the latest single’s subject matter, vocalist and lyricist Oli Rainsford told me:
‘Drugstore Cowboy’ is a high octane goose chase through downtown, knocking over newsstands, bumping into passersby and tearing through the clustered chaos of the everyday hustle and bustle.
There’s this movie from the ’80s called ‘Drugstore Cowboy’ with Matt Dillon (based on the book), and I remember watching it for the first time and just soaking in its atmosphere and attitude. It has a ton of ’80s charm that I figured would be a really cool subject to translate into a song. It’s chaotic and brash but at its heart there’s a relatable message.
In the pursuit of our own needs, we can often disregard reality. It’s about a man who will do anything for a rush no matter the consequences, and despite this, is thoughtful and aware enough to know that he is the way he is. You might not like it, but you gotta respect it.
There’s a divine peace in knowing your downfalls, and ‘Drugstore Cowboy’ is a tune that throws its arms wide open, falls backwards and trusts whatever decision fate casts upon us. [It] is a gunslinging, store raiding soliloquy that acknowledges what it means to truly live in the moment. Being the main character in your own story, even without knowing how that story will end.
The song was actually written on the acoustic, but it was immediately clear it was going to end up a belting javelin of a tune. It harks back to the sounds of mid-late 2000s rock, which is kind of a vibe we reckon, channeling a bit of what was still left of the golden age of MTV.
You can almost imagine the boys from ‘Jackass’ barrelling down a f-ton of stairs with ‘Drugstore Cowboy’ blasting in the background. At its core it’s just a helluva fun song, and sometimes.. that’s enough.
Accompanying the single, Krooked Tongue are releasing their most ambitious music video to date, filmed by the band’s guitarist Dan Smith. Being an independent band navigating the costs of releasing an album and working with a £0 budget, the creation of the video saw the band pushing the boundaries of their creativity and resourcefulness; the result being a three minute exploration into each member’s cinematic and creative influences.
Discussing the creation of the video, the band said:
With the influence of American film in ‘Drugstore Cowboy’s’ premise, it felt pretty obvious that the music video needed to be cinematic. We wanted to capture the atmosphere of 70s/80s Americana, a time when being at the movies was enough for most people.
The music video for ‘Drugstore Cowboy’ wears its influences with unapologetic pride, with references to some of our favourite film makers, whether it be the crash zooms of Quentin Tarantino or the colour grading of David Fincher. We had a ton of fun filming this video, thinking on the fly for locations that might be cool around our beloved town of Bristol and unhinging the veil of being rockstars for a bit and taking ourselves less seriously which made way for a load of great scenes and also a load of bloopers.
We ventured all over this fair town of ours, to the top of multi-storey car parks, through cinemas, arcades and burger shops and through the bustling streets.
Working on a £0 budget forced us to get extra creative with our ideas. So we filmed anywhere that would either let us or that we could get away with! And when it came to filming the cinema shots, after being turned down multiple times from cinemas for asking to film (something about piracy, who’d have thought) we had to replicate the grandeur of theatre seats by stacking a heap of red chairs accordingly. We reckon it turned out pretty good considering!
We want people to watch this video on their TV, crank the speakers, grab some popcorn and become a ‘Drugstore Cowboy’ for just a little over three minutes.
Krooked Tongue’s debut album, ‘I Know A Place’, will be self-released on 24 April. They play two hometown dates, supporting IDestroy at The Croft on 28 November and The Valla at The Louisiana on 14 December.