Gang of Four Admit They’re “Lucky” Men in New Video

Legendary English post-punk band Gang of Four have released a new video for the song “Lucky” from their recently released EP Complicit. As the band prepares for the release of new album this September, “Lucky” serves as a vicious political indictment that fits very well with the most controversial single from the EP, the scathing “Ivanka (Things You Can’t Have).”

The music video showcases the band performing in stark black and white, with various gambling motifs interspersed between the group playing in a cramped warehouse setting. Amy Love, known for her work with the Nova Twins, makes an appearance in the video, providing some backing vocals to compliment John “Gaoler” Sterry’s powerful lead vocal performance.

Musically speaking, “Lucky” contains plenty of angular guitar riffs from Andy Gill, along with plenty of danceable rhythms and smooth vocal lines. In a press release for the EP, Gill talked about the significance of “Lucky” and what the inspiration was for the song, stating that

I’d been watching a serious debate on one of those financial news channels – six white men in suits arguing about the stock markets – and it set me thinking about how limited luck can be. America’s demented ringmaster-clown claims to have bestowed fortune on the markets. He believes himself the master of luck… Even if you believe market crashes are the result of bad luck rather than layer upon layer of human and machine error, the system shudders, restarts and goes on as before.

As one of the most politically-minded bands to come out of the late ’70s post-punk explosion in the UK, Gang of Four continues to be a pivotal force in the movement to counter the right-wing nationalist movement that has taken hold of America and Western Europe in recent years.

You can watch the video for “Lucky” in the player below.

Andy Lindquist: Music news writer at mxdwn.com. Part of the mxdwn team since 2017. I have been writing about music for some time now and also play in an pop/rock band. I have a BA in rhetoric from UC Berkeley. Born and raised in the San Francisco bay area and still currently living out on the eastern side of the bay.
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