Savages members Fay Milton and Ayse Hassan announced the debut of their new side project 180dB, along with a music video for their debut single “Road Trip”The song, which features Meredith Graves of Perfect Pussy on vocals and guitarist Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, is a frenetic in-your-face punk song goes from zero-to-sixty from the beginning. Graves doesn’t sing as much as deliver a spoken word performance mixed with screaming. Even against the frantic pace of the music, Graves delivers her lyrics with such conviction that she has the listener hanging on every word.
The video, which was directed by Milton, complements the song’s tone with a horror movie vibe. With the band hidden by dim lighting, smoke and close-up angles the video presents itself as claustrophobic, aided by shots in tight hallways. On top of this Graves stands in a tiny closet staring at you, and refusing to look away.
In all, this video wants to grab its audience’s attention and refuses to let go.
The band came out of a chance meeting between Milton and English DJ Goldie. After letting Milton hear an unreleased track for a song he was working on called “Upstart (Road Trip)” he told her he wanted to hear a punk version of the track. Milton decided to try it and enlisted Graves, who rewrote the vocals for the 180dB version.
With the band in their early stages, it’s hard to say what the 180dB will look like moving forward. In the description of the video for “Road Trip” it states that “180dB is a continuously morphing supergroup built around Fay Milton and Ayse Hassan, the highly-respected rhythm section of post-punk firebrands Savages .”
While the band will be working on new music, Milton and Hassan are still active members of the English rock band the Savages, where the two perform with lead singer Jehnny Beth and guitarist Gemma Thompson. The band formed in 2011 and has released two albums, Silence Yourself and Adore Life through their label, Matador Records.
Since their debut, the band has been nominated for BBC Sound of 2013 and has played at day 2 of Coachella.
On top of the announcement of the video and side project, Milton and Hassan have announced that 180db will be releasing a full LP sometime in early 2019.
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