Here’s what we know about The Midnight Club: “armed with a unique brand of rock and roll, an affinity for glam, and an electrifying live performance, The Midnight Club seeks to evoke the spirit of such rock legends as Bowie, T. Rex, and Led Zeppelin. The band’s ability to interact with each other, the audience, and the energy in the room shatter the modern expectation that a live show should be a replication of the record. This creates an entirely different feel on the set every time they take the stage, never playing the same show twice. With their passion for the true essence of glam rock bleeding through, The Midnight Club will take you on a cosmic joy ride through their exhilarating sound and vision of what modern rock music should be.” That’s straight from the horse’s mouth people.
On “Staying In,” the boys from The Midnight Club are bringing back the disco sound. They have managed to produce the single and its music video all on their own during the Covid-19 lockdown. The video has the washed-out monochromatic technicolour feel of Godard’s Pierrot Le Fou. The aesthetic fits well over the Talking Heads, new-wavey sound they’ve tucked into on this track. The bass sound is taken straight out of that era, to their credit, and plays well with the prototypical disco beat underneath. The boys are looking pretty hipster-ish in their glammy wardrobe, and their lead vocalist really gets into the Marc Bolan persona with his steampunk sunglasses and quirky dance gyrations. It might be hard to follow along with the song’s narrative at times, with ominous lines like “this is no secret mission it’s a glorified tango,” but hey, the guys are partying in a bathroom during a pandemic. Let’s give them a break.
A production such as this raises an interesting point: not only can music be produced on a budget while confined at home because of a global pandemic, but even video making is possible with limited resources as long as you can add your creative touch. The boys managed to do that with their monochromatic colouring scheme and using editing to give us the sense that they’re playing together as a band, even while each member appears in a separate frame, maybe due to social distancing protocol. On that note, I liked how the shots of the drummer had him with only a kick, a snare and a hi-hat. It’s pretty minimal but it works well visually. Time will tell if this sort of production takes the place of more traditional styles. In the meantime, enjoy the music.
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