Shooks and the artful pulsating shine of "O2" (Official Video)

 

"stay here, go home, do what you want..."

Austin based Shooks, on their latest "02" is bringing back something that seems to be lacking overall in the last several years and maybe that something is not exactly definable. It is something that Marc Bolan had and Prince too. David Bowie had it in spades even though this 'thing' reshaped a dozen times. I don't know if  lead singer Marlon Sexton has this thing or if he is posing. Time will tell but damn it I love what I am hearing on "02". AND of course, it is not just Sexton but everything on this track. Every sound has what tantamounts to a glam swagger but not in a toxic way, fully saturated in a cool artfulness, sultry and self aware.

“O2” is named after the oxygen tanks that the band had to use due to the altitude sickness that afflicted them in the Colorado cabin that Marlon and Shooks drummer Muddy originally recorded the song in, which seems to have directly influenced the almost drunken stumble of this track. Describing the recording process, Marlon writes “I remember the original part being a lot faster and more danceable but when we tried to record it, it ended up sounding like someone walking down a staircase with a broken leg… Some weird parallels with The Shining, that altitude does kinda wanna make you bust through a door with an ax.”

About the Official Video - from Press Notey stuff:

[Directed by frequent Shooks collaborator Blake Nelson, the music video for “O2” attempts to visually mirror the mysterious and nocturnal sound of the song, with fleeting images of the band’s regular photographer Will Branch playing the role of the mysterious man behind the wheel of the vintage car - a 1950’s Checker Limousine cab that Marlon describes as “a unicorn of a car”. The video, shot in one night on 8mm film, features this nameless main character portrayed by Will driving around the streets of Austin at night, lights flashing and reflecting across his sunglasses and his hands gripping the steering wheel until eventually the video becomes an abstract blur of moving lights./

-Robb Donker Curtius





THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:

https://www.shookstheband.com/

https://www.instagram.com/shookstheband/

https://www.facebook.com/shookstheband

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gX0cUSUGA0


Thriving in Austin, Texas’ youthful and whiplashing music scene, Shooks mixes jittery post-punk guitars and psychedelia-inspired textures to produce their own collage of signature sounds. Led by multi-instrumentalist Marlon Sexton, the band's eruptive live shows explore the spaces between the familiar and experimental with a blend of sonic textures, crafted to push the boundaries of modern pop. After releasing the Pet EP in 2021, Shooks established itself as one of Texas’ premier up-and-coming bands, taking its sound from Austin's historic stages like the Continental Club to festival stages at Austin City Limits and Formula One.

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 Shooks, Austin, Texas, post punk, indie rock, alt rock, glam-esque, "02", art rock, avant pop, lead singer Marlon Sexton, Official Video,