Korn‘s Jonathan Davis was so excited by ORGY that he created his own record label …
Back with a brand new single, The Wrath are as punchy and as rock ‘n’ roll loving as ever.
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Releasing the video for Long Time Dead, we’re getting a monochrome offering of the super-charged stylings of the Gold Coast rockers, but there’s a lot more to be unravelled from this assumingly sparse visual experience, as singer Tommy Creeper explains.
Creeper wrote Long Time Dead after some personal issues he experienced. This rapid, sometimes groovy song, is a bit of a pick-me-up for him and anyone else who has had some troubles. “It’s really just a note to say live your life to the fullest, in the now,” says Creeper.
“Anything that doesn’t contribute to your happiness or you being the best version of you just needs to be left for dead. That’s where the idea for the lyrics came from, because you are a long time dead, you’ve got one shot.”
The lyrics of the song could indicate some complexity and, dare it be said, a lot of colour, and yet The Wrath have gone with a simple shoot for the video. “That was a concept that Luke Sorensen, who directed the video, came up with,” says Creeper. “He wanted to do something different–there’s a lot of people going all out and chucking everything in, using CGI and all this stuff—he just thought ‘Let’s just let the lyrics do its thing and make it really stripped back, and go with that.’”
Anything that doesn’t contribute to your happiness or you being the best version of you just needs to be left for dead.
[ Tommy Creeper ]
In stripping stuff back visually, The Wrath are still able to get across everything that intended in sound and sentiment. “I think he [Sorensen] did a really good job in capturing that,” says Creeper. “Just to bring it back and let the words do its thing. It’s what you see is what you get, when you come see us live and get that gritty feeling, as opposed to chucking stuff in for the sake of it.”
As for marking where The Wrath are at in their career, Long Time Dead is very much the band going back to their roots and sharing the influences they grew up on. “No experimental rollercoaster ride, I just wanted to write some straight up rock ‘n’ roll songs.
“Keep it simple, keep it catchy, and just have some fun instead of getting too complex and getting too far into it–why does it need to be? Let’s just write a cool rock ‘n’ roll song!”
And it is just that. Long Time Dead has the straight up rock ‘n’ roll, but with hints of punk and a rockabilly undertone, but The Wrath have of course gone with a little horror-pop flavour, too. It’s where the band, says Creeper, aren’t just comfortable, but perform at their best. “It’s just what our sound evolved to be,” says Creeper. “We’ve just kind of gradually evolved into what we sound like, but there was no intention of being a certain genre.
“When we go to write something we don’t say ‘I really want to write something of a certain genre’, this is our influences and what we like as individuals and it’s just coming out. This is the music we like and like to play, it’s just as simple as that.”
Groovy as the new single is, it doesn’t mark the approach of a new album. Instead, The Wrath have decided to release new music as singles for the remainder of the year. “I think how people consume music has changed, there’s no real pressure to make albums anymore,” says Creeper. “We’ve done a couple of albums and it’s a long, hard, and expensive undertaking. It doesn’t seem to be what a lot of people are doing now, they’re taking the model of putting singles or EPs out to stay visible.
“That’s what we want to get back to doing—writing, putting singles out, and touring, and being the live touring band that we are.”
With a stretch of shows between now and October, Dead Of Winter Festival is the first instance where The Wrath will perform the new single live, pulling from their back catalogue, too. “Being a festival, you’ve only got a short amount of time, so it’s not like we can go on a big roller coaster and dig back deep, so we have to pick songs that are gonna punch people fast, and that’s how this festival set really goes.”
The Wrath Long Time Dead Single Tour:
BRISBANE // Saturday 13 July // Dead Of Winter Festival at Jubilee Hotel
MELBOURNE // Friday 16 August // Whole Lotta Love
MELBOURNE // Saturday 17 August // Smashfest at Bombay Rock
GOLD COAST // Saturday 14 September // Wallapalooza at The Wallaby Hotel
ADELAIDE // Friday 27 September // Grace Emily Hotel
ADELAIDE // Saturday 28 September // The Golden Wattle
SYDNEY // Saturday 5 October // Frankies Pizza
