In the first out of two new releases and premieres from Head2Wall Records today (check back later tonight for the second one), we’re pleased to give you the new video for Experiment For The Betterment Of Humankind, a calming and ethereal new song from the new LP “From The Future” by Ohio alt post hardcore act HONEYMOON. The band’s atmospheric, riffy, spacey delivery evokes memories of the likes of Hum, Failure, Swervedriver, Sunny Day Real Estate, etc., mixed with some Smashing Pumpkins-esque alternative rock, and gives more and more upon every fresh spin. We have teamed up with the band to share their thoughts on the lyrical content behind their work, this new video and give us some insights on their local scene of Northern Ohio.
“From The Future” LP was released on January 10, 2020 on Head2Wall Records. The album is available now on vinyl and digital.
Austyn was the main producer of this video. We shot it on some old Sony Handycam that has this weird mix of analog and digital components and Josie Yeager and he edited it. We shot it just as Ohio was issuing stay-at-home orders in mid-March.
The song “Experiment for the Betterment of Humankind” touches on feelings of isolation and nostalgia – not knowing if things will be better in the future but ultimately doing all you can do to keep the progress going in the right direction.
I think the video does a great job representing the gloom and solitude – the zeitgeist of the current pandemic. No one knows for sure how its all going to pan out – but there’s always hope that we can come together as humans and use this as a jumping point for positive change, and the end of the video encapsulates that.
Inspirations for the video:
Big fans of David Lynch. We say that proudly. There’s a reoccurring theme in his film “Lost Highway” that has to do with found footage. We liked that. Not to forget the physical restrictions of the camera. We were fed information we couldn’t actively imagine. Gotta give Josie Yeager a lot of credit. Her editing work pulled from Brittany Markert’s film “Fragments”. Josie’s preliminarily editing set the tone for the rest of the video.
Continued below…
Ohio alt music scene
The state of our current scene wasn’t perfect to begin with, but effectively everything is at a standstill right now. Many of our colleagues, including us, had shows they were looking forward to for a long time canceled, or even worse – entire tours canceled. The positive side to this is that every band is more or less on the same level – there’s only so much you can do. No one can tour or play shows. It’s a great time for musicians to become connected and familiar with those who support them through livestreams, merchandise orders, q+a sessions, etc. When this is all over, hopefully bands and musicians don’t forget those who supported them during these rough times, and hopefully folks come back to seeing gigs with a renewed sense of why seeing live music was so great to begin with.
“These are strange times.”
Many, including those who are “in charge” aren’t doing the right thing – valuing money and the economy over keeping human beings safe. Conspiracy theory folks are becoming even more unhinged. People don’t know where or how to direct their feelings of anger and anxiety. As i’ve said before, we could go further down the rabbit hole of hatred and division – or we could use this as a springboard to push for policies that further positive change and the common good. Let’s hope and work for the latter.
Bands worth a check
Bitter Branches (members of Deadguy and Kiss It Goodbye), Only Sibling, Downward, Greynier (about to drop the album of the year on NMZ), Moonkisser (about to drop the EP of the year on H2W).
Lyrics for An Experiment For The Betterment Of Humankind
See it all before the fall
An empire of what we once had
A place to call our own
Experimental life control
Destroyed at the soul
Instrumental to this goal
We’ve heard it all before
They saw it all before we died
A dust cloud sent to wave us on
Self-assured to know
We’ll never know it all
More about the band:
This hardworking north-central Ohio quartet has cut their teeth on blistering, riffy post-hardcore in the vein of space-rock masters like Failure and Swervedriver, but leaning hard into their emotive and impassioned side. The result to this point has been an impressively powerful and immersive, attention-demanding experience, reminiscent of legends like Hum and the heavier moments of Sunny Day Real Estate.
But on From The Future, their debut full-length, Honeymoon has truly crafted a masterpiece. Taking all of the elements incorporated into their previous work, and pushing them to a perfectly whole, creative and emotional critical mass. Explosive riffs that will have your head moving before you even realize what you’re hearing. Thoughtful and incisive lyrics that give the powerful atmospheric experience context. And an implicit understanding of what it takes to write a song that doesn’t just sound good, but demands to be experienced completely.
