If you have yet to meet Swiss indie rock quartet Scratches, let today be the day I introduce you to them. The band has been active since 2014, when they released their haunting debut, fade. You may remember them from our premiere of their fresh video for 2019’s “Between”, from their third album, rundown, released through Czar Of Crickets Productions. Today’s focus, “Sorry”, was also released as part of rundown, and today, Everything Is Noise is pleased to bring you its visual counterpart, a tawny video that perfectly mirrors the song’s musty world of fuzzy vintage guitars, fat drums, and sparkling layers.
Much like the song itself, the opening scenes of “Sorry” have the viewer wondering what era they are witnessing. Beginning with a simple retro-rock riff, driven by delightfully live drums and a subtle rhythm synth, “Sorry” builds an atmosphere of vintage secrecy – think a barren warehouse with a lone table, surrounded by mistrusting poker players, blue cigar smoke coiling its way up to the ceiling beams. The video shows a shot of a film strip being drawn beneath a magnifying glass, images start off blurry and gradual shift into sharp focus. As if to emphasise this shift from vague to clear, Scratches introduce a simple, regular guitar stab into their loosely shifting riff, a moment of glassy clarity among the dust and smoke.
As the song drops into the haunting first verse, the video changes, too. Scratches strip “Sorry” back to just drums, smoky vocals, and sparse, crystalline guitar layers, leading us through a decaying door, paint peeling from its wooden body. Beyond this lies an abstract tangle, perhaps a drawing – a hasty sketch? Or, as it turns out, the snaking entrails of cables powering Scratches. The space they are playing in perfectly reflects the sound of the song itself – archaic, with high ceilings and wooden floors, weak sunlight filtering into the room. The rest of the video continues as a reflection of the song itself, mirroring its lift and falls, never breaking the sultry atmosphere.
Do check out the rest of rundown on Scratches’ Bandcamp, and if you really loved this song, you can buy the album on CD or (very appropriately) vinyl. For news about the band’s future doings, check out their website and, as always, smash that like button on Facebook.
