15
May/13

VIDEO OF THE DAY: “BURIED IN THE MURDER” BY THE LONELY WILD

15
May/13

Throughout their debut album, The Sun as It Comes (Ursa Major, April 2013), L.A.-based quintet the Lonely Wild sing of beating hearts and drums as people battle to survive economic, political, and personal crises amid fire and flames. “You can’t ignore the sound of one drum / when it’s played by hands of millions,” founder and lyricist Andrew Carroll and Jessi Williams proclaim on the opening title track. Featuring members from California, Indiana, Missouri, and other locales, the Lonely Wild takes on matters of individual and group conscience on the record, the follow-up to their 2011 debut EP, Dead End. The title song was inspired by the Arab Spring, while “Banks and Ballrooms” was influenced by investigative journalist Matt Taibbi’s Griftopia: A Story of Bankers, Politicians, and the Most Audacious Power Grab in American History. “You’ve done no wrong / You should be mad / This ain’t the good life / that you worked to have,” Carroll sings on the tune. Most of The Sun as It Comes is set in a highly cinematic Western landscape that ranges from romantic ballads (“Over the Hill”) to horn-laden controlled chaos (“Everything You Need”) to the anthemic, nearly postapocalyptic “Buried in the Murder,” which ends with screaming vocals and wailing guitars. Carroll, Williams, lead guitarist Andrew Schneider, bassist Ryan Ross, and drummer Dave Farina will be at Mercury Lounge May 16 with Ravens & Chimes and the Lonelyhearts and at Union Hall May 17 with Yellow Red Sparks and the Lonelyhearts. In addition to songs from their EP and LP, perhaps you’ll get a bit of their cool mash-up of Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus” and Pink Floyd’s “Money.”