September 11 is a date that still defines the American psyche, two decades on. It is an anniversary that politicians continue to stage around, that media replays in loops, and that citizens are told to “never forget.” This year, Deaf Club used it to release the video for “Pain In The Assery,” a piece done in collaboration with the activist collective Indecline.
Directed by Indecline, with Eric Cannon as Director of Photography, edited by Displaced/Replaced, and featuring sculpture by Ethan Salmon, the video ties into the band’s second LP “We Demand a Permanent State of Happiness,” out September 19 through Southern Lord and Three One G.
For Justin Pearson, the video is less about marking the tragedy in a conventional way than about confronting the political machinery that grew out of it. He wrote about the context directly: “I’m fully aware of the complexity of what 9/11 was and still is. I see how it resonated in different directions, starting with a low IQ political puppet on an aircraft carrier fumbling through a poorly written speech in front of an arrogant banner reading ‘Mission Accomplished’. The dollar store PR stunt which only gradually got into focus for various people at some point showcased the ongoing business of global terror perpetrated by the U.S. Government.”
Pearson frames 9/11 not as an isolated event but as part of a much longer trajectory of U.S. interventions. He points back through Clinton continuing the war in Afghanistan, Bush Sr. initiating it, and Reagan bombing parts of the Middle East while caught in the Iran Contra scandal. For him, the continuity is visible:
“You’d think we could see it now with clear focus in relation to the U.S. Government’s support for genocide in Palestine, and today in DC, with the infant stages of a visible police state. Yeah, we can pick a side in a two party system who are just inbred cousins of a bigger system that always points towards war, the business of war, and the lack of humanity, as well as the lack of intellect to negotiate peace. So you can ‘never forget’ 9/11, and you can also just forget, because the politics of war are not concerned with anyone’s wellbeing.”
“Pain In The Assery” lands in the middle of Deaf Club’s upcoming record, which also features “Nihilism For Dummies,” “Crap Circles,” “Biblical Loophole,” “Vinegar, Soap, and Holy Tap Water,” “Counterfeit Coins,” “Frequency Illusion,” “Liquidate The Living Body,” “All Hot Dogs Are In-Bred,” “Closed Fists and Closed Minds,” and “End of an Ear.”
The album was recorded and edited by Alex Estrada at Pale Moon Ranch and Luke Henshaw at Penguin Studio, mixed by Daniel Schlett, and mastered by Nathan Joyner. Pressings will appear in three different limited edition color vinyl variants.
Pearson, Brian Amalfitano, Scott Osment, and Jason Klein keep the speed and hostility that marked earlier releases, but fold in more hooks and disorienting textures. Reviews have called it “lawless, lethiferous hardcore” (Metal Sucks), “gnarly” and “essential” (Revolver), and “a blistering all-star cast set to full scale decibel peak” (Cvlt Nation). Decibel described it as “high energy, future fucking, spastic grind… seared by neon gas on top of the sound of the tears of snowflake Republicans bawling about the forthcoming wheels of fascism not spinning fast enough for their liking.”
The collaboration with Indecline ties that sound to political critique. Known for its interventions and pointed anti-authoritarian stance, the collective aligns with Deaf Club’s intent to show that behind the noise is a commentary on how America remembers — and forgets.
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