The Wandering Birds (the Lawrence Arms) drop Derek Grant-directed video
Noted punk-rock label Red Scare Industries recently issued 15 Years Of Tears And Beers, a compilation of various roster members covering each others’ songs. Brendan Kelly, the Lawrence Arms founder whose band Brendan Kelly And The Wandering Birds make a nest on Red Scare, chose to cover the Lillingtons’ “All I Hear Is Static” in ’80s electro-pop style.
“Here at Red Scare Industries, we have many great songs, and when Toby [Jeg, Red Scare founder] told me that for the 15-year comp, he’d like for some of the bands to cover each other, I immediately said, ‘I call ‘All I Hear Is Static’ by the Lillingtons,’” Wandering Bird Kelly says. “It’s definitely in my top five favorite songs in the entire RS catalog, and I knew that if I didn’t act fast, someone else would snatch it up. Keeping your begging blanket as close to the feet of the king as possible pays off sometimes, kids.”
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Assisting Kelly on the track is Derek Grant, known to your devices as the drummer for Alkaline Trio. Not only did Grant create the backing track for “Static,” but he also put together the video AltPress is premiering today. Grant helps Kelly fulfill his Easy Rider fantasies on a grid seemingly lifted right out of Tron.
“I knew I couldn’t come close to making a better version than the Lillingtons did, so I enlisted Derek Grant, who has always been the danciest of all the Wandering Birds and told him to go wild,” Kelly says. “He told me he’d get something to me in, like, two weeks, and maybe three hours later, he sent me the track bed as it appears on the comp. I can’t say enough positive stuff about Derek’s bizarre genius. I feel really lucky that we’re able to collaborate in such goofy-ass ways. He also made the video, which, well, he’s a maniac. Fun fact: Both those motorcycling birds in the vid were total divas, and the shoot lasted six days.”
Give these Birds a flip below. And if you want to seek out the Red Scare anniversary rec, you may do so right here, or if you like physical things you can touch, over here.
