Video: The Donkeys, ‘Hurt Somebody’

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the-donkeys
The Donkeys

San Diego roots-pop band The Donkeys is on the road with a new mini-album called “Midnight Palms,” to be released officially Feb. 12 by Easy Sound Recording Company. Although—but also because—the album was recorded at the end of an intense tour, it sounds as relaxed and breezy as a weekend of jello wrestling in the backyard. Naturally, that made it easy to come up with a video idea for “Hurt Somebody,” which compiles footage of block party wrestling rings, vintage fist fights, ladies in lingerie pushing each other, and some full-color jello grappling. The song puts for the notion, “It’ll be alright,” and nothing says rolling with the punches like happy people engaged in recreational fighting.

Recorded mostly live in the studio by Thom Monahan (Vetiver, Fruit Bats, Devendra Banhart), The Donkeys have an easy natural hive mind comradery that comes from playing together for ten years. Since 2006, the band has not changed too much, aside from Tim Denardo, Anthony Lukens, and Sam Sprague adding The Hold Steady’s Steve Selvidge into the mix, who joined the band after the departure of guitarist Jesse Gulati. Together they deliver easygoing backyard Americana made for carefree warm times. It’s music that embraces everybody, music for men with hairy backs to let it all hang out, like the guy who rips his shirt off in the video at around the 2:03 mark.

||| Watch: “Hurt Somebody”

||| Live: The Donkeys perform Feb. 19 at The Bootleg.