Photo: Mariah Tiffany
Oakland indie quintet Club Night often sound like four bands crashing into each other in slow motion. Frontman Josh Bertram’s eggshell yowls tend to be doubled or tripled up, creating the impression that a gang of schoolkids is confronting the listener; Ian Tatum’s open, rawboned guitar lines contort around themselves; screeches and howls come in from odd angles, and you’re never sure if they’ll give way to a wild, four-second solo or a cello interlude.
Their debut full-length, What Life, is out on April 5, and its first single, “Path,” is premiering below. Bertram’s lyrics are barely decipherable amidst the sherbert-rush racket, but the hook sticks: “We need an education, compassion or a shred of empathy.” It is, he wrote in an email to The FADER, a song about breaking ties with the shittiness of the past:
"'Path' tries to describe the awkward frustration around the excuses we tend to make for our older generations. It is important to continue having these same conversations regarding what is inappropriate and why things are hurtful with these people who are maybe your relatives or people in your community you have to see on a regular basis. It feels like we haven’t gotten very far from where are parents were, but I think holding others accountable for their words and trying to impress upon the ideas of empathy and perspective will be our best tools moving forward."
Listen to “Path” below. What Life is out via Tiny Engines on April 5.