Ruff Majik Post “Lead Pills and Thrills” Video; The Devil’s Cattle out Oct. 30
Led by piano from band-newcomer Evert Snyman, who also handles lead vocals in the track with guitarist Johni Holiday taking over for the hook, “Lead Pills and Thrills” follows behind “All You Need is Speed” and “Who Keeps Score” as the third video the South African former-trio-now-five-piece have done leading up to the Oct. 30 release of their third album, The Devil’s Cattle. The band aren’t strangers to video media by any stretch, but the cinematic nature of “Lead Pills and Thrills” only seems to underscore the new dynamic that inevitably is embodied in the record, as Snyman and Holiday share vocalist and songwriting duties and bassist/guitarist Jimmy Glass shares those roles with Cowboy Van, who also adds backing vocals, keys and harmonica to the proceedings, while Benni Manchino drums. Madness of an even richer variety than that which took place across 2019’s Tårn (review here).
Though I’ll confess I’ve got it on as I write this, I’m going to resist the temptation to start talking about The Devil’s Cattle in full as I’m hoping to set up coverage closer to the release. Still, “Lead Pills and Thrills” puts emphasis on Ruff Majik‘s progression, and that would seem to be where the emphasis belongs, those for anyone who picked up on them via Tårn or 2018’s Seasons (review here), they remain almost instantly recognizable. The clip below, rife with zombies in all their visual-metaphor glory, is on theme from the Flash-animated “Who Keeps Score,” the charm of which extended all the way down to the “Thriller” dancing happening before the final confrontation. I’ve posted that, as well as the lyric video for album-opener “All You Need is Speed” below, in case you want to get caught up on all of it. And, again, as I’m listening to the album right now, you probably do.
The PR wire’s got plenty to say about it. Find that under the video below.
And please enjoy:
Ruff Majik, “Lead Pills and Thrills” official video
DOWNLOAD / STREAM: https://orcd.co/leadpillsandthrills
Album Pre-Order / Pre-Save: https://orcd.co/thedevilscattle
“Lead Pills And Thrills” is the third single to be released from our upcoming album “The Devil’s Cattle”. It’s the first one to feature both Evert and Johni front and centre on vocal duties, and also the first time the band experimented with piano driven rock ‘n roll. Lyrically, the song deals with crippling addiction (to both lost love and alcohol).
The video is the conceptual follow up for the animated feature “Who Keeps Score”. Jimmy and Johni are both out in the wasteland, being pursued by zombies. Evert has been taken hostage by a zombie horde to be the personal piano man for their bar – and Jimmy and Johni set out to rescue him. Once there, they discover they have fallen right into a clumsily planned trap.
“Lead Pills And Thrills” (as with the previous videos and album art) is a love letter to B-grade horror and action movies, and this vision was captured perfectly by Tiger And Lilly Productions.
“When hell is full, the dead will walk the earth – turns out they like rock ‘n roll too.” – frontman, Johni Holiday
VIDEO CREDITS:
Starring: Johni Holiday, Evert Snyman and Jimmy Glass.
Also starring: Ella, Anni, Brendon, Innes, Finn, Terry, Gert, Scrone, Allas, Wilco, Henkie, Bez, Cassie, Eaton, Katja and Roelof as zombies.
Art Direction and M.U.A: Karien Goosen and Jessica Young
Video Production: Tiger and Lilly Productions
Poster design and title design: Annemarie Buchner
Special thanks to Terrence, Iggy and Casey for the use of Shamrock, and to Tiaan for the use of the worlds biggest motorcycle.
RUFF MAJIK:
Johni Holiday – guitar, vocals
Cowboy Van – guitar, bass, backing vocals, keys, harmonica
Jimmy Glass – bass, guitar
Evert Snyman – guitar, vocals, keys, percussion
Benni Manchino – drums, percussion
Ruff Majik, “Who Keeps Score” official video
Ruff Majik, “All You Need is Speed” lyric video
Mongrel Records on Thee Facebooks
Tags: Mongrel Records, Ruff Majik, Ruff Majik The Devil's Cattle, South Africa, The Devil's Cattle
