Plainride Premiere Video for New Single “Shepherd”
The deep-state rumor mill has it that German heavy rockers Plainride are getting ready to release a third long-player at some point this year. March? April? May? June? The Cologne-based outfit — currently without a bassist — issued their second album, Life on Ares (review here), as their debut through Ripple Music, following on from 2015’s Return of the Jackalope (review here), with a more complex feel and richer songcraft. If “Shepherd” is a sign of things to come from their on-time-for-every-three-years-pace full-length, then their growth would seem to have continued unabated despite having to cancel plans in 2020 that included their first stops in North America for Maryland Doom Fest and Ripplefest in San Francisco.
Digging into “Shepherd” — something only made easier thanks to the cinematic feel accomplished by the video despite its apparently DIY/renegade making — one finds Plainride to be not at all rushed, but not lacking energy or purpose either. The lyrics and video both reference a relevant social-commentary stance, and that Plainride would attempt such a thing after their more straight-ahead beginnings — let alone that they’d make the song their first single — should tell you something about how they’re feeling going into album number three. Bolder. More confident. More themselves.
And well they should be. Life on Ares was an important step in Plainride‘s process of defining their course, and “Shepherd” heralds the next stage of that definition. The question, obviously, is how they build a record around it and where their dynamic has taken them in the last three years. Again, it’s just a rumor, but we may yet find out the answer to that sometime in the coming months.
While we’re envisioning an optimistic future, Plainride also have a few live dates booked for later this year. Wouldn’t that be nice? In a hopeful spirit, I’ve included them under the band quote that follows the video. Fingers crossed, y’all.
Enjoy:
Plainride, “Shepherd” official video premiere
Plainride on “Shepherd”:
“When we set out to shoot the video, we knew it was going to be a DIY endeavor. 2020 hasn’t been an easy year, so we were operating on an even tighter budget than usual. But seeing as we had already managed to produce the song independently, we were confident we’d be able to do the same for the music video – even though none of us had produced an actual music video before. We knew we had to shoot the entire video in one day, seeing as we had a rental camera, and we knew we needed a location where nobody would bother us and ask for a permit.
“Luckily, our rehearsal space, as many are in Germany, is located in an industrial area, so we had that going for us. We drew up a storyboard, trying to pick up on some of the themes of the song, like the encounter with the beggar and the idea of the capitalist being consumed by the fires he himself had set before. Especially the image of the beggarman’s can being lit on fire stuck with us, which is why we settled on it as the artwork for the song. Shooting the video itself was a ton of fun although we just about froze our asses off (it must’ve been around 6 degrees Celsius). It was so cold, the camera’s batteries kept giving out, so we had to constantly keep them warm using what little body heat we had. Judging by what we ended up with though, I’d definitely say it was worth it.”
PLAINRIDE ON TOUR
10/04/2021 – Ripplefest Cologne
07/08/2021 – Black Sunset Festival
19/08/2021 – Reload Festival
08/10/2021 – Fuzz Jam Festival
09/10/2021 – Setalight Festival
15/12/2021 – Hannover, Bei Chez Heinz
16/12/2021 – Göttingen, Dots / Vinylreservat
17/12/2021 – Hamburg, Drafthouse
18/12/2021 – Bochum, Trompete
Line-up:
Max Rebel (Vocals, Guitar)
Florian Schlenker (Drums)
Bob Vogston (Guitar)
Ripple Music on Thee Facebooks
Tags: Cologne, Germany, Plainride, Ripple Music
