We’ve long had July 25 circled on our calendar in anticipation of Deafheaven and Drab Majesty’s appearance tonight at Royale in Boston. Turns out there’s a third band on the bill, Brooklyn’s Uniform, and after firing up the post-industrial noise trio’s latest, a fiery banger titled “The Walk,” our excitement has grown to rather absurd levels. The Danny Perez-directed video channels our bloodlust news cycle, a dark theme of societal decay that’s reflected in the track.
“In Stephen King’s book, ‘The Walk’ is a shorthand colloquialism,” says vocalist Michael Berdan, “for an annual race ordered by a totalitarian American government called ‘The Long Walk’. In this contest, 100 boys are made to walk south from the Maine/Canada border at a constant rate of 4mph until only one is left standing. The winner is granted anything he wants for the rest of his life, while a far more nefarious fate awaits the 99 behind him. It is one of the most cynical stories I’ve ever read and speaks volumes to many of the ugliest parts of the human condition.”
Berdan is on-point here, so we’ll continue his relaying his thoughts: “Over time I’ve come to view aspects of the book as loosely parallel to feelings I’ve had towards organized religion and capitalism, where for some people an unattainable ideal is set as an absolute. We allow ourselves to be broken under rigidly defined norms regarding traditional strata, where lack of compliance leads to ostracization and success as dictated by religious and economic rule often leads to the disintegration of one’s own hopes and dreams. As someone existing in late capitalism who sees beauty and personal empowerment in many of the basic tenants of all world religions, these are subjects that I wrestle with constantly.”
An extension of the track and the mindset behind it, Uniform release their latest album, The Long Walk, this August 17 on Sacred Bones Records. Watch “The Walk” below, and circle the appropriate calendar date for your city after the jump.
Uniform photo by Ebru Yildiz.
Uniform North America Live Dates:
July 25: Boston, MA – Royale #
July 26: Montreal, QC – Theatre Fairmount #
July 27: Toronto, ON – The Opera House #
July 28: Detroit, MI – El Club #
July 29: Cincinnati, OH – The Mockbee
July 30: Chicago, IL – Metro #
July 31: Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall #
August 01: Minneapolis, MN – Cedar Cultural Center #
August 02: Rock Island, IL – Rozz Tox
August 03: St. Louis, MO – The Ready Room #
August 04: Lawrence, KS – The Granada #
August 05: Denver, CO – The Oriental Theater #
August 06: Spokane, WA – The Bartlett #
August 07: Salt Lake City, UT – Metro Music Hall #
August 08: Boise, ID – Neurolux #
August 10: Seattle, WA – The Neptune Theatre #
August 11: Vancouver, BC – The Imperial #
August 12: Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom #
August 14: San Francisco, CA – August Hall #
August 16: Santa Cruz, CA – The Crepe Place
August 17: San Diego, CA – Brick By Brick #
August 18: Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern #
# -w/ Deafheaven