Kevin Bronson on November 12th, 2018

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It’s been 10 years since L.A.’s Army Navy jangled their way into the hearts of guitar-pop fans, riding the sunbeams of artists such as Big Star, Teenage Fanclub and the Posies along the way. Their single “Her Makeup” (which came out Nov 2) was their first release since 2014’s third full-length “The Wilderness Inside” — a milestone marker and a signal that their hiatus is over. It’s not a “new” song but a “lost” one.

About the time singer-guitarist Justin Kennedy, guitarist Louie Schultz and their producer, Adam Lasus, were broaching the topic of new Army Navy material, Kennedy’s nephew found an old disc of demos that contained “Her Makeup.” Kennedy fell in love with the song again — and the creative juices starting flowing. “I began to reminisce and listen to the music recently, and I was left feeling proud and inspired by the music we had created,“ he says. “As I dove back into ‘Her Makeup,’ I started coming up with some new Army Navy ideas and the floodgates opened. I’m not really sure what the plan was: Louie and I simply got together and looked at the tunes, and just like old times, things fell right back into place.”

As for “Her Nephew’s” video, it was shot on a VHS camcorder and directed by Kennedy’s boyhood pal Gary McGrew. Once upon a time, the pair had worked at a video store in Bellingham, Wash., and had bonded over the kind of horror movies that are so bad they’re good. The video taps into some of the clips they made for themselves and their friends. Be afraid, very afraid, but be glad that Army Navy is back in action.

||| Watch: The video for “Her Makeup”

||| Previously: “The Mistakes,” “Pickle”