The Roulettes are back in NYC after a twenty-year hiatus, and they’re stepping up to the plate in style with their new music video for their new EP opener, “Batter Up.” This riot grrrl-surf-garage punk trio hadn’t planned on a comeback after their last gig in Portland back in 2004, but the pull of NYC—along with unfinished creative business—lured them back. Now with founding members Rachel Hass and Rebecca Keith at the helm, and bassist Alice Danger joining to round out the lineup, the band’s debut album in two decades, Mommy Comes Back, hits with a burst of honest grit.
Filmed on a radiant Harlem summer day, the “Batter Up” video serves as a love letter to NYC, blending the city’s bold energy with a vintage edge.
Shot by Jen Meller, the video taps into iconic films and shows from The Warriors and Dazed and Confused to Fame and Gossip Girl.
The idea for the video evolved from the band’s original plan to shoot a rollerskating scene for their song “Hot Ticket”—a treatment so elaborate it even included a greasy-spoon diner with James Franco as chef (though they never got him to sign on).
For “Batter Up,” the trio kept the idea of roller skating, but opted to lean into the video’s baseball theme, inspired by the baseball gang from The Warriors. The end result is a campy, fierce showdown between two “gangs” that culminates in a dance-off, with nods to the mean-girl hazing scene in Dazed and Confused and the classic dance ensemble finale in Fame.
“We even sketched out the whole treatment which involved James Franco playing a greasy-spoon diner chef– never got as far as getting him to sign on, but we were working towards it.” – says the band.
“So for “Batter Up” we had the rollerskating idea in our heads, but we thought that, to play off of the game/competitive idea and more of the edge in the song, we would think about an homage to Warriors one of our favorite movies. We wanted to have people dress as both “The Punks,” the rollerskating gang in the movie and “The Furies,” the baseball gang, but then it evolved into more baseball.”
The video’s choreography, directed by Anna Copa Cabanna, leans on humor and charm with a “camp femme” edge.
“Jen had the idea for the baseball cards and we had seen these posters around the neighborhood for a new gym with questions like “Feel like punching a wall today?” It ended up getting a little more campy (both camp like theatrical and like actual summer campy) and a little more femme– so, esp. with the costumes, it leaned towards another favorite movie, Dazed and Confused – the mean girl hazing scene, and the Gossip Girl episode where Blair and Serena fight during field hockey.”
“But we also knew we wanted to end with a dance ensemble scene– so the idea was the two “gangs” would come together and play this baseball game but as things got heated, instead of a brawl we’d have a dance off which turns into a collective dance. We of course also love Fame and Dirty Dancing. So it turned into its own thing but hopefully still captures a retro-ish fun but competitive vibe. Most importantly, we wanted to feature some of our talented friends, so we got Anna Copa Cabanna to choreograph and be the umpire and Amanda, frontwoman of Leathered, is one of the fabulous extras.”
The Roulettes’ lyrics for “Batter Up”—originally conceived back in 2013—speak to resilience and reclaiming one’s voice. The song’s hook, “Am I gonna have to tell you again,” was inspired by a line from an almost abusive roommate, but here it transforms into a powerful mantra of self-assertion.
“Our lyrics often come from simple conversations we’re having or inside jokes. Looking back, the lyric “I won’t see you again” has a couple meanings–I would always think of it as referring to a friend/ex who passed away, but on a less morbid level it’s the idea of parting ways with exes or separating from other toxic relationships in your life, including professional/workplace ones or living situations.” – comments the band.
“The “Am I gonna have to tell you again” line was a direct quote from an almost abusive roommate one of our former members lived with, but in the repetition we like to think of it as shifting to the speaker taking back their power and making sure they are taken seriously. As we started to look back at the song to plan the video, the idea of “batter up” resonated in terms of seizing your moment– again, stepping into your power, going for it, taking the next step, and shedding the things or people that hold you back. As connected to the idea of our album title, “Mommy Comes Back” it can speak to not letting motherhood crush your ambitions for yourself and your creativity. We want to be role models for our daughters in terms of living full lives, being able to nurture them and nurture ourselves and our creative desires.”
The Roulettes will celebrate their comeback on November 14 at The Broadway, sharing the stage with their favorites, Shilpa Ray and Onesie. Shilpa’s set promises raw, dynamic energy—known to riff on everything from Whole Foods to NYC’s public transit in her lyrics—while Onesie brings humor and lyricism that’s “dad-rock meets Pavement.” This show will mark the band’s last NYC performance before they, hopefully, take their punk revival on the road in spring.
