We are very proud to premiere the new video by Sydney band The Shrugs for their poptastic fuzz blast of ‘Shoebox’.
The Shrugs combine creative forces and a swaggering posture to produce a effervescent indie pop blast that adds a sixties bubble gum flavour to the intensity of bands like Pixies or The Breeders.
In ‘Shoebox’, there is a biting message familiar to many facing a rental squeeze and who stand outside looking into the window of smug property ownership in places like Sydney. Songwriter Jed Holmes lauds the saviour of rock’n’roll for the excluded:
Back then it was just a lament at how unattainable home ownership feels. The ridiculousness of those “millennial homeowner” articles that hide “parents paid for it” five paragraphs down. The calls for you to “just move more rural” as if the entirety of the life you’ve built in the city can just be transferred a few hours away, with no consequences except a marginal mortgage saving. Now, after a few years of fires, lockdown and rain, the claustrophobia of our apartments is even more apparent – so fuzz and riffs will have to save us instead!
Serving an eviction notice to the smug and complacent, thundering guitars and insistent pounding rhythms provide a sonic undercurrent to the sweet melodies and harmonies, with a leather-jacketed insouciant swagger that struts and poses artistically inside your head and takes up a long term lease. Who cares? The Shrugs do. It’s a refreshing blast of indie goodness timed perfectly for the new era in Australia.
The video, created by Mat Evans and Holmes, leavens the bleak message with an animated guitar-wielding shoebox with a Sponge Bob Square Pants demeanour shooting out riffs against a variety of backgrounds, that ends with a heavenly ascension. Is this the only place where freedom reigns after a lifetime of incarcerated servitude? Imbued with the cheeky bop bounce of the track, it is a vibrant, humour-infused take of a desperate plea for space and freedom:
You can download or stream the single here or through the link below:
The Shrugs are:
Sophia Evans – vocals
Lauren Crew – bass, vocals
Matt Ward – drums
Jed Holmes – guitar, vocals
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