Halifax rockers (and displaced Saint Johners) Adam Mowery and Pierre Cormier of Papal Visit have blessed us with a new video for their single ‘What Makes him Win Like That?’ The video doesn’t give us any answers, but a whole lot of anxiety-inducing monkey masks.
Normally working a la The Postal Service, with Mowery imposing lyrics over Cormier’s melodies, this compilation was a total co-write with Adam adding bits of guitar and bass to the song. Papal Visit also teamed up with fellow Johners Jud Crandall (USSE) and Geoffrey Smith (Little You Little Me) to create ‘What Makes Him Win Like That?’. The full record will also feature musicians from Reagans Rayguns and Penny Blacks making for a full on Saint John affair.
“I get an opportunity to play with all my Saint John buds even though I’m 400 km away,” says Mowery.
The song itself is a catchy little dystopic earworm that Mowery explains is all about jealousy and perceived personal injustice. “It’s the catharsis twist. Musically it channels from The Cramps somewhat, and it’s a lot more punkrock than our previous record.”
The video is just as likely to find its way into your head, or at least your nightmares. With poorly lit backroom antics that feature a handful of bargain shop masks and a DIY aesthetic, thankfully we’re only dealing with eyeballs and monkeys and an absence of any clowns. Maybe that’s a metaphor for what the double-edged sword of jealousy makes of us, but in any case it’s certainly uncomfortable.
‘How Does He Win Like that?’ plays host to B Side, ‘Lucky Numbers’ which gets described as “an experimental audio collage”, but teases us that it’s a fair indication of what to expect of the Papal Visit’s upcoming second album expected out later this summer.