Watch: Videos from the Linda Lindas, Girlhouse and Alex Izenberg
Kevin Bronson on
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Weekend viewing: Videos from the Linda Lindas (feat. Kathleen Hanna), Girlhouse (feat. lobster claw mittens) and Alex Izenberg (feat. Not Paul McCartney) …
THE LINDA LINDAS, “Why”
The Linda Lindas, the L.A. quartet whose members range in age from 11 to 17, are indeed “Growing Up” — the title of their month-old debut album, as well as an apt description of their career arc. Their proto-punk chops, bold but plain-spoken lyrics and keen mentoring are taking them places, including late-night TV, where last week 11-year-old drummer Mila de la Garza became the youngest-ever musicaql performer on “The Tonight Show.” And the new video for their song “Why,” directed by Elizabeth Ito and Suzie Vlček and narrated by Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill, nods in part to L.A. punk history. “The ‘Why’ music video is a tribute to ‘The Decline of Western Civilization,’ the legendary 1981 documentary about L.A. punk by Penelope Spheeris, and ‘Spirited Away,’ one of our favorite Miyazaki movies,” the band says. “It is set an an imaginary ‘Save Music in Chinatown’ show, part of the series of all-ages matinee fund raisers for music education at [bassist Eloise Wong’s] school, where we played some of our earliest gigs with some of the musicians from Decline — Alice Bag, Phranc, Keith Morris, Chuck Dukowski — who are now our friends. The art was drawn by Eloise, the flyers are real, and no dessert was wasted!” The Linda Lindas open for Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Japanese Breakfast on Oct. 10 at the Hollywood Bowl.
GIRLHOUSE, “Facetime After Sex”
Lauren Luiz (of WILD) has released “The Third EP” from her solo project Girlhouse … so it was time to break out the lobster claw mittens? The self-directed video for “Facetime After Sex” follows Girlhouse as she tries to keep a straight while shopping wearing the funny gloves. As for the EP, highlighted by lead track “Paul Blart Mall Cop,” it’s equal parts humor and heartache. “I wanted ‘Facetime After Sex’ to feel as nostalgic as this story is for me,” the songwriter says. “My early 20s were filled with lots of searching for love on the apps (Tinder, Bumble, etc.) right at the beginning of that kind of online dating. Wow. What a time. The types of things people used to say on dates, mostly coming from me, still haunt my dreams. I have some friends that have actually met their current partners on the apps so I know it’s not all bad, but for me it was nothing but top-tier awkwardness. This song is about a few men I met along my journey to get off of the apps and why I tolerated the shit that I went through.” Girlhouse supports the Wrecks at shows July 22 and July 23 at the Regent Theater.
ALEX IZENBERG, “Ivory”
Two weeks away from the release of his third full-length “I’m Not Here,” the L.A. singer-songwriter has released the chill single “Ivory,” the follow-up to “Sorrows Blue Tapestry.” “I don’t know if it’s as much of a story as me trying to tell a story, because I don’t consider myself to be a storyteller like Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen, but I guess it was me kind of going for that,” Izenberg says. “It could be interpreted in different ways, depending on what your mood is, but I think it kind of can be interpreted as a fancy couple going out and how they’re not really in love but they’re still together. And then ‘real love will stone you’ at the end of the chorus can be interpreted as them finding out they’re not in love. I was kind of going for a ‘Best of My Love’ Eagles kind of vibe. That song I think is about the singer just being hopelessly in love with somebody and just telling her she gets the best of his love. Lyrically, it’s not quite the same, but the vibe I was going for.” Meanwhile, the video stars Mike Miller, a Paul McCartney impersonator, and there’s got to be a wry punch line here, but we’ll just let you enjoy.
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