The Mad Doctors Premiere Video for “Shit Hawks at Blood Beach”
Let’s face it, when someone like Brooklyn’s The Mad Doctors comes to you and says, “Hey we’ve got a video for a song called ‘Shit Hawks at Blood Beach’ do you want to premiere it?,” the correct answer is not no. All the better that the clip in question takes animation influence from the likes of Bill Plympton and Terry Gilliam and probably eight or nine other animators I’m not cool enough to recognize and looks as disturbing as the track itself — which features guest spoken vocals from Matt Witte alongside the core Mad trio of guitarist/vocalist Seth Applebaum, bassist Joshua Park and drummer Greg Hanson — sounds, with the band’s weirdo take on surf rock chilling out a bit from some of the more uptempo fare surrounding on 2017’s No Waves, Just Sharks (discussed here) from whence it comes in order to set a creeper vibe like Faith No More‘s “RV” if someone had parked it in the sand and left it there for a month to bake in the sun.
Oh, it’s strange and oh, it’s fun. The clip, directed by Jordan Wason, is an inventive work of line animation and stop motion that much like the song seems to grow more psychotic as it plays out, starting innocently enough if with something sinister happening beneath. Soon enough there’s a plastic gun and garbage and bottles and oil paint being used to convey, what, sunburn, maybe? But like an existential sunburn? It’s hard to read and that’s pretty clearly the intention, but again, it meshes really well with the echoing guitar jangle of “Shit Hawks at Blood Beach” itself, which takes the innocence of early-’60s surf — before punk had the chance to dirty it up — and turns it into a bad trip unfolding right in front of the listener. Watch it fullscreen and be creeped out. I think it’s better that way. This isn’t the kind of thing I cover every day, and nothing against the standard or anything, but that’s kind of why I like it.
The Mad Doctors released a single in January called “Fuck Sean Hannity” that’s available name-your-price at their Bandcamp and well worth your time. Their work sees release through Hanson‘s imprint, King Pizza Records, and they play Pizzafest VI at The Gutter in Brooklyn on June 6. More info on that here.
Please enjoy:
The Mad Doctors, “Shit Hawks at Blood Beach” official video premiere
Jordan Wason on “Shit Hawks at Blood Beach”:
“The animation blends together antique photos and found toys from Brooklyn’s own Glass Bottle Beach at Dead Horse Bay. The beach is a former landfill from the 1930s, and some ghosts from the photos may be of the same era as the trash buried there. I thought it was appropriate to let them play together again, reunited at Blood Beach.”
The Mad Doctors on “Shit Hawks at Blood Beach”:
“Jordan is an amazing animator and we are stoked he took on the project — stylistically, his sensibilities lie at the crossroads of 80s/90s underground film, Svankmeyer/Brothers Quay stop motion, mixed media, and a dash of roadshow exploitation and that really suits our tastes. His choice of song makes perfect sense as it’s probably our strangest and most atmospheric. The vocals/monologue by Coach n Commando’s Matt Witte really set it apart for us and it’s cool to see it all set to some truly unsettling images. It’s rad to release it so close to the anniversary of ‘No Waves, Just Sharks’ release and we can’t be more excited to share it.”
“Shit Hawks at Blood Beach”
Music by The Mad Doctors
Lyrics and vocal performance by Matt Witte
Video concept and animation by Jordan Wason
Band photo by Jeanette D. Moses / Blood Sweat and Beers NYC
Off the album “No Waves, Just Sharks” by The Mad Doctors, available from King Pizza Records.
The Mad Doctors are:
Seth Applebaum – Gtr/vox
Joshua Park – Bass
Greg Hanson – Drums
The Mad Doctors on Thee Facebooks
King Pizza Records on Thee Facebooks
Tags: Brooklyn, King Pizza Records, New York City, No Waves Just Sharks, The Mad Doctors, The Mad Doctors No Waves Just Sharks
