Canadian post-hardcore act Alexisonfire released their first new song in nearly a decade two months ago with the track “Familiar Drugs”, and now they’ve teamed up with Heavy Consequence to exclusively premiere the song’s music video (watch below).
Lead guitarist Wade MacNeil tells us of the video, “Everything came together really fast. Maxxis (the director) flew into Toronto with a crew of four people, found the plainest room he could and shot us on VHS tape and cellphones in a day. We were all really drawn to the vibe of old punk documentaries and videos from the ’70s and ’80s. We asked for a lo-fi, no bullshit performance video and that’s what he delivered.”
The director, Maxxis, adds, “I thought it would be cool to put a very normal woman in this tight space with Alexisonfire performing. She represents the withdrawn and disinterested sales force that is out there moving product to make a buck — regardless of what it is. She doesn’t give a shit about this band or their music — maybe she even thinks it’s stupid. There’s no passion there, so she stands miserably in the background. a nice metaphor for life i think.”
Regarding the song, guitarist-singer Dallas Green revealed to us in a recent interview, “The main riff and the chorus, I’ve been playing that on my guitar for over a decade. It was just something that we never got around to sort of just try and see if we can turn it into an Alexis song … [‘Familiar Drugs’] came together relatively quickly, because there was pretty much a blueprint for it already, from all those years ago.”
At the time of the single’s release, Alexisonfire had announced a handful of tour dates in London, New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto. They’ve since added second shows in the three North American cities, as well as a new date at the Ottawa Bluesfest on July 12th. Tickets for the shows are available here.
“Familiar Drugs” is available for download here or as a 7-inch vinyl release here.
Alexisonfire 2019 Tour Dates:
06/01 – London, UK @ Alexandra Palace
06/07 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5
06/08 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5
06/12 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
06/13 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
06/15 – Toronto, ON @ The Budweiser Stage
06/16 – Toronto, ON @ The Budweiser Stage
07/12 – Ottawa, ON @ Bluesfest
