Gather ’round kids, and listen as Makeout Palace craft one hell of a hook about using this ancient technology called a “payphone.”
The Boston band’s new release “AFTER HOURS,” which arrived last month (March 14), is an alt-rock odyssey in this attention-span-deprived world. The song and music video’s nine-minute runtime leaves ample room for piling on anything and everything: Talk of fruit shopping, debating the age that uncles turn weird, visual elements of film noir, and a rippin’ sax solo, to name a few elements. But it’s the song’s pre-chorus and chorus that will stick in your noggin like gum.
“And I’m going to a payphone / And I’m dialing a number / And I’m dialing a number/ And I’m dialing a number,” repeats vocalist and bassist Eva Levin, who then breaks out a debatably even hookier refrain: “I call you up / You say you’re doing fine / It’s all without you / It’s all without you.” On the second go, the latter lyrics switch to “It’s all about you.”
Every time one of the previous lines repeats, Makeout Palace’s narrative spirals a little more, and you’re happily along for the ride, loop after loop at this precarious payphone. The wild part is that “AFTER HOURS” is so infectious, it almost makes you wish the tune were even longer.
Clock in with “AFTER HOURS” below.
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