Kevin Bronson on September 11th, 2018

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Local Hero is the new persona for the music of Andy Clockwise, aka Clockwise, the Los Angeles-based Australian whose outsized, rapier pop music cast him as the rogue of the dancefloor, calling out debauchery, artifice and other sundry aspects of L.A. life. For his new music, Clockwise finds touchstones in 1980s post-punk and New Wave — think New Order, as narrated by weighty baritone of an arena rocker.

“The Big Think,” which comes out on Friday, is the first Local Hero single. It’s a long walk down the darkened avenue of failed romance, suffering the echoes of all the coulda-should-woulda-beens. “‘The Big Think’ is a love song that didn’t work out, they always seem to be the best ones,” says Clockwise, who’s joined in his new project by Mathew Gardner (Jim Ward/Ernest Ellis).

The song is part of a triple-album titled “War Stories” (release date TBA), which was conceived after Clockwise retreated to a farm in the NSW North Coast in Australia. Omar Yakar Jr. engineered and co-produced the initial sessions, and the recordings were wrapped at L.A.’s Boulevard Recordings.

“‘War Stories’ is about the wars we put each other through,” the songwriter says, “a pop musical ode to human dysfunction, heartache, sex, grief, revolution, and the death of our youth. It sounds all right too.”

||| Stream: “The Big Think”

||| Live: Local Hero plays tonight at Madame Siam in Hollywood, along with Enola Fall and Bella Darling. Free with RSVP.