BattleHooch Loose on the Streets: A Band, A Van, and A Cam...

San Francisco's Battlehooch living the American Dream...

This weekend the kind folks at BreakThruRadio alerted me to a video by a San Francisco band by the name of Battlehooch.  Battlehooch has been one of those bands that has been on my radar but inexplicably I have yet to see perform live.  Well, after watching their self-made video for the song "Someone to Remind You", I will no longer be depriving myself of witnessing the purveyors of one of the more singular sounds coming out of the Bay Area - and as in the case of the video below, vans.  Battlehooch members seem to number in the dozens and employ some lesser-known instruments de RAWK such as the clarinet and accordion.  Their collective approach and unabashed embrace of both headbands and feathers often lead their sound to be characterized as "Psychedelic " but what truly impresses is their songcraft.  They will be headlining SF's Bottom of the Hill on February 25th with Oakland's No Bunny and the Downer Party as part of the annual Noise Pop Festival.

What is so wonderful about the video below is how creativity and imagination seem to be winning the day over special effects and budget, in an indie music community that has corralled technology in service of the DIY ethos of it's earlier heros.  The video simply places the members of Battlehooch in a slow crawling van as it navigates Brooklyn's Bushwick (the new Williamsburg) neighborhood while they render their song safe in its confines.  That's it!  Great song teamed with the urban landscape motioning by through dirty windows and the unassuming charisma of the band, make for a very enjoyable ride, indeed!  I look forward to more of this marketing aesthetic to continue in 2011 as the word "viral" continues to be uttered and ultimately abused by advertising agencies, marketing departments, and public relations professionals.  This, of course, will lead to the complete subterfuge of the term rendering it meaningless, in which time we will see the glorious return of the 3 million dollar video!!  To every season, turn, turn, turn...In the meantime enjoy this respite from bloat and self-awareness.



A reminder of bloat and self-awarness...