TV Priest take aim at life’s ephemera on “Decoration”

Gnarly British post-punk band TV Priest blow a breeze through life's trinkets and accoutrements on "Decoration," the beating heart of their forthcoming Sub Pop debut Uppers. Among the items frontman Charlie Drinkwater rails against over a jagged groove are feature walls, smashed avocado, junk food, and "the TV adaptation of the latest book craze."

Typical of the band's irreverant sense of humor is that opening line (“I’ve never seen a dog do what that dog does”) is a misremembered quote Simon Cowell gave about a performing dog on Britain’s Got Talent. The nature of the surreal continues into the "Decoration" video, created as a comic version of the dreaded endless scroll only with full English breakfasts and open graves instead of breaking news and Kim Kardashian memes.

Speaking about the song and video, Drinkwater told The FADER: "'Decoration' has always felt like a song full of little vignettes; like you’re walking down the street and realising the absurdity of human existence for the first time. Joe perfectly encapsulated this in his idea, which was based on an ‘endless scroll’ of images, like a filmic representation of a meme account crossed with 1970s durational performance art. Each situation becomes more absurd and dada as we progress."

TV Priest will release Uppers on February 5 2021. The album includes the singles "This Island" and "Slideshow."

Thumbnail image via Dan Kendall.