We can imagine the scene now. A long haul trucker speeds down a highway in the Southern Californian desert when he spots three young girls standing by the side of the road blindfolded. One of them is sitting in a kiddies pool. “Fucking LA people,” mutters the burly driver before blowing his airhorn and flipping them the bird.
Only, The Coathangers are from Atlanta, and they’d probably laugh their arses off at the image too.
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Directed by Matt Odom, the video for “Perfume” features the band – Meredith Franco, Julia Kugel and Stephanie Luke – with their eyes obscured with blindfolds, shimmering gauze and Daft Punk looking masks. No doubt it’s a metaphor for something but we are too caught up in the buzzy song to try and work it out.
Taken from their fifth album, Nosebleed Weekend, the track buzzes along with a melodic shot of late afternoon sunshine. “Summer stole the perfume from my eyes” sings Julia.
Since emerging from the same Atlanta underground scene in 2007 that had previously produced bands like Black Lips, GG King and Gentlemen Jesse — the band have carved a decent sized niche in the US guitar pop/punk scene.
In October they return to Australia and make their first visit to New Zealand.
Watch the video and read a brief chat we had with Julia.
Noisey: ‘Nosebleed Weekend’ is a little less angular than previous releases and represents somewhat of a stylistic change.
Julia Kugel: Every record we make is an evolution for us as musicians and as people. We try to challenge ourselves every time. Therefore it feels like a compliment when people say the record has a different vibe… it should! It’s a different record! This was the first time we recorded in California with the lovely Nic Jodoin. Just being on the west coast made us approach the record differently. We isolated ourselves and strictly wrote and practiced for weeks. We hope people enjoy it! We love it and that’s kinda all that matters in the long run.
You guys came out to Australia early last year in support of Suck My Shirt. What did you think of touring Australia and are you excited about coming back?
Hell yes!! We LOVE Australia! People are super nice and the shows were great! It had always been a dream of ours to travel there and in a way it felt like we finally “made it.” It’s a great achievement to know that people on the opposite side of the globe dig what we are doing! Seriously amazing! We are grateful to be able to come back and hang again and are also playing New Zealand for the first time on this run which is very exciting as well!
Where was the clip filmed?
California, where the record was recorded. It has become a second home to us. We filmed on the streets, on the beach, the LA river, and in the deserts just outside the city. The imagery of these places seemed to fit the song. “Perfume” is about seeing the truth for the first time and finally realizing what you have been denying. California is the ultimate place to explore the reality behind the twinkling starry deception of illusion.
I love the shots of you paddling head down in a kiddies pool. Did you have as much fun filming this as it looks like you did?
Yes! Matt Odom is such a delight to work with and has these amazing ideas! We went from desert to beach to underwater swimming pool shots. He just took us places and let us do a bunch of weird stuff. The blindfolds helped too as they made us forget the camera was there, although made it difficult to walk without busting our butts. Overall, it was easy and natural. Definitely one of the most fun videos we’ve shot!
Catch The Coathangers in Australia and New Zealand
Sep 30 – Auckland at Whammy Bar
Oct 1 – Christchurch at Churchills Live
Oct 2 – Wollongong at Yours & Owls Fest
Oct 5 – Melbourne at Northcote Social Club
Oct 6 – Sydney at Newtown Social Club
Oct 9 – Brisbane at Black Bear Lodge
Oct 8 – Byron Bay at Great Northern
Image: Matt Odom
