The 21st century is the first century in which human beings have been able to move from one place to another in the constant wake of a continual soundtrack. Access to all the world’s music at the press of a button, for better or for worse, has allowed us all the opportunity to chose our own opening theme songs, and what’s playing as the credits start to scroll over black. Last Scene Alive‘s new video for their upcoming single “Better to Be Alone Than in Bad Company” is the band’s leitmotif, the opening song for their musical superheroes’ adventures, and it’s premiering right here today.
On the song from their upcoming album World Class Pep Talk, the Dutch via D.C. jazz fusion progressive metal band slowly sets fire to a trail of fuel before it. The gasoline-soaked riffage spreads itself under a heavily-looped, 7/8 rhythm before guest guitar player Garrett Gleason ignites with electric, angular solos, embers floating up from the main melody with the pulsating confidence of a flame-shooting superhero. The song is a continuous crescendo of snares that fly around corners like the band’s caped alter-egos, their waxen figures flying around the streets and canals of Amsterdam.
The video of their song, coming from their March release, is produced by saxophonist Graham Robertson, showcasing the whimsical, forward thinking of the band. The video features animated versions of the band members flying through the streets of Holland’s capital city, the opening melody sounding like the soundtrack from an ’80s cop show, a long-forgotten Miami Vice copy-cat. The song carefully builds up to a scorching conclusion, with Zack Be’s otherworldly synth holding down both a melodic heft and the ball-shaking low-end as Sean Sidley deftly brandishes his drum-sticks as if they were weapons of mass-destruction. The sounds blend together to create a fun, relentlessly optimistic celebration of musicianship and, well, superhero-like abilities.
World Class Pep Talk will be self-released by the band on March 6th. Access your new soundtrack on their Bandcamp. Follow the band and their adventures on their Instagram and website.
