With a new report revealing millennials' social media-induced perfectionism problem, Beechwood decides it's time for us to take off the mask in new video, "Ain't Gonna Last All Night," starring artist/personality Nicky Ottav.
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The NYC pop-punk band has always had a talent for pulling back the curtain to reveal the dark underbelly of humanity, and their latest visual is no different. Gordon Lawrence's garage-rock vocals lend an authenticity to the track, which is perfectly paired with Ottav's "self-masking" — he applies absurdist makeup and a bright green to demonstrate the lengths we go to put our best face forward. Lawrence explains the concept came from his fascination with people's desire to (often medicinally) conceal their own insecurity and fear, bred by our obsession with "keeping up appearances."
"It's no big mystery to me why Americans are so fucked up right now on uppers, downers, anti-depressants or whatever else Dr. Feelgood will prescribe," Lawrence says. "It's much easier to mask the symptoms than confront them. "Ain't Gonna Last All Night" is about this; it's about the little things that people try to hide from each other that really make any given person who he or she is."
He continues: "Everyone always has this front up, but in my experience, I've been able to see right through it. Doesn't make me special. I just like to see a piece of something real before I get into it. It's always easier to put up a front, but at the end of the day, it's you who has to look at yourself in the mirror, and only you who has to live with yourself."
Check it the video, premiered by PAPER, below and look out for Beechwood's new LP, Songs From the Land of Nod, available January 26.
Beechwood are playing alongside The New York Doll's David Johansen at Elsewhere on the 20th and Berlin January 27th, grab their limited edition Starburst vinyl here.