Kevin Bronson on September 30th, 2014

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After six albums and seven EPs at the front of Chicago-bred Kill Hannah, Mat Devine has stepped out in a substantial way, under the moniker Wrongchilde. His L.A.-based project’s debut album “Gold Blooded,” which came out Sept. 16, sounds oddly current given its obvious 1980s influences. The album even comes complete with a morbid version of Pat Benatar’s “Love Is a Battlefield,” thanks, in part, to Morgan Kibby (M83, White Sea). The song would fit perfectly into any slow-motion, romantic movie scene. Kibby isn’t the only collaborator on “Gold Blooded” – Wrongchilde also tapped Alain Whyte (primary songwriting partner for Morrissey) and former My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way for “Falling in Love (Will Kill You),” a track originally meant to be performed with a woman. The decision to use Way’s voice only made the song more haunting, heaving a tear from even the most aggrieved hearts. Don’t worry though; Devine has more than just heart-wrenching songs to offer. He’s also expanding on his creativity with accompanying music videos, most notably “Slow.” The video will do one of the following: provoke a pillow fight, cure coulrophobia via the creepy clown’s mad dance skills, or reaffirm coulrophobia via the creepy clown’s mad dance skills. Warning: If you haven’t already figured it out, the video features Mat Devine as a clown.

– Jessica Shalvoy

||| Stream: “Falling in Love (Will Kill You)” and “Love Is a Battlefield”

||| Live: Wrongchilde plays Thursday night at the Viper Room.

||| Also: Below, clown it up with Niko Sonnberger’s video for “Slow”: