Quelle surprise! The end of the world falls into our laps and a punk-rock band has just the anti-capitalist anthem for the occasion. Halifax’s Like A Motorcycle were keeping their latest single “Wide Awake” in their back pocket, waiting for the right moment to unleash their careers in the new economy as Zoom background models.
The band recently announced their signing to Known Accomplice, Cadence Music’s rock imprint. Presumably, that career shift meant they were anticipating big plans. They’d already released their first single on the label, “Idols,” and then the world dropped out from under them.
And so, like everyone else, the band has pivoted. “Wide Awake” takes advantage of the new technological bubble we’ve all found ourselves in and engages in the digital commute. Filmed entirely in guitarist KT’s apartment, the video indulges in a dizzying number of eye-rolls as we substitute one backdrop for another in an effort to understand the greater concepts of desire and freedom over the machinations of capitalism and greed.
“Although ‘Wide Awake’ was written some time ago, its sentiment rings true now more than ever,” says LAM’s Kim Carson. “‘Wide Awake’ is about waking up between a past stained with unhealthy choices and a future of bleak dystopian uncertainty. Where do we go when leaving the past means potentially losing everything we’ve worked for? Can we break vicious cycles and bad habits without losing the people and things that comfort us? How does change and its uncertainty make us feel?”
And for that, are we truly prepared to sacrifice our world of greenscreens and cameras? Can we even function in a world without structure or will we collapse in a boundless sea of lethargy, ultimately succumbing to the heat death of the universe?
Like A Motorcycle suggest that you stay tuned for that answer and more, coming later this year.