Nova Scotia’s Air Traffic Control are taking their business of policing the skies seriously. If it flies, Kirk Comstock & Co. are going to question its heading, speed, and motive, and nothing has raised their eyebrows quite like this recent batch of billionaires with extraterrestrial aspirations.
“The Rocketeer,” the first video to be released from Air Traffic Control’s upcoming album No Horse Kids, questions the value of a select few blasting off into space while the rest of us stand planted firmly on planet earth.
Which isn’t to say that there’s no merit in exploring the cosmos. Like the space missions that have come before, these fresh endeavours to dip some toes into the cosmos will undoubtedly yield several technological offshoots from which we will all benefit. After all, where would we be without memory foam? That being said, there’s a fine line between scientific advancement and vanity projects.
Of course, nothing is ever really that simple, and the real question that Air Traffic Control asks is: who is getting richer and who is going to spend every day of their life putting out fires?
“I am a fan of space travel and ingenuity. The rocket is a sign of our times and works as a social reference and a mental one. I wonder what our lives would be like today if industry would have went the way of Nikola Tesla,” says Komstock. “The social/economical problems in the world are so complex and a bit of a trap. When you can’t even try and understand anymore is when this song comes in to clear the slate for a minute.
“The song is designed to be a realistic overview of how fucked up everything is, with a tension release in the chorus. The climate for us all is that truths are being revealed almost daily that challenge what we thought we knew. It highlights how little we really know and leaves a feeling of powerlessness and heartbroken while dividing everyone in the confusion.”
Not one to be content toiling about his own earthly matters, Comstock has gone all Dee Snider—at least if Twisted Sister had exploded in the UK sometime in the mid-’90s. With a handful of emphatic ‘woooh’s, Air Traffic Control rocks through this protest song, challenging the status quo with a song that has excelled in the same school that turned out the likes of Blur and Oasis.
“This song is meant to put the fight back in the dog; for when you’re right at the brink of losing the whole plot and giving up. When you need to just scream out and let go for a second,” says Comstock. “It’s rocket fuel for realists and a lift to those that will help steer this giant earth spaceship back towards the course of good. It’s a charge-up and blast-off.”
No Horse Kids, Air Traffic Control’s upcoming album, is slated to be released on November 1, 2021.