Salem, Massachusetts, known for their lobster rolls, witch trials, and small-town charm. Oh, and the best heavy rock/noise rock/fuzz rock power trio this side of the Mississippi! The Freqs got the ball rolling in 2020 with their debut EP Wasted Youth, then the band faced a certain… uh… global disruption *cough cough*. Rather than waste away, they re-tooled their lineup, now: Seth Crowell (Guitar, vocals), Ian Mandly (Bass, synth, piano, backing vocals), and Zack Fierman (drums, backing vocals), knuckled down and kept on writing.
The trials and tribulations of the times seeped into the band’s already explosive output, materializing in the form of a new EP entitled Poachers. It’s got animalistic energy with monolithic riffs, holler-along-to hooks with sludgy-sensibility, and noise rock attitude with overtones of classic rock. Feel free to check out our full review of it here. Seriously, it’s freaking fire front-to-back, and so we’re stoked to premier their new video for “Poacher Gets The Tusk”.
Much like the comedy/tragedy masked figure that haunt the band during their performance, there’s a dark undercurrent running through the good-time shuffle groove of this song. “Poacher Gets The Tusk” isn’t what appears to be on the surface. While poaching itself is without a doubt a topic warranting further awareness and exploration, I think it goes a more metaphorical route on this song.
During the spine-chilling bridge section, the refrain ‘Tell me how the poacher gets the tusk from us‘ can be interpreted in a couple ways. Perhaps we’re the elephants asking why the poachers are even able to take our tusk in the first place. Elephants are pretty OP animals that do not think you are cute. So that refrain starts to sound like the elephants asking how much more poachery are we willing to put up with until we finally use our tusk to fight back. The following refrain ‘He never resisted arrest‘ adds a whole extra layer to it too.
‘During early talks about making a music video, “Poacher Gets The Tusk” was the obvious pick because of its hooky nature and groove which we felt would pair well with a visual narrative. The creators of this video (Colby Todisco and Dave Apostolides) both worked tirelessly to storyboard an original concept which could honor and evoke the same message as the song‘.
Todisco and Apostolides, your hard work certainly paid off. The video gets creepier and cooler with each screening. Just let it keep looping if you’re not too sure what else to do. And if you find yourself skulking around New England with idle hands, rather than Devil’s work, think about getting down to see The Freqs at one or two of the dates below:
02.22.2023 – Allston, MA – O’Briens – with Bedtimemagic, Diva-Karr, King Mob
03.10.2023 – Somerville, MA – The Jungle – with Knock Over City, Motel Black, Mollusk
Just look at those line-ups! Can’t pull off a pilgrimage to Massachusetts right now? Then at least get on this EP. If you’re into rock music at all, there’s no excuse for sleeping on The Freqs. Wake up, brush the crust out of your ears, and enjoy:
This band is pudding-proof that the apathetic sentiment of ‘rock is dying‘ is far removed from reality. The past several years have seen bloody heaps of quality rock artists/albums, and this release is more evidence to that extent. It’s relentlessly good from one end to the other. So follow them on Instagram and on Bandcamp, because whatever they’ve got cooking up next is bound to bring the fucking tusk.
