mxdwn PREMIERE: Alex Bloom Releases New Video for the Blissed-Out Fuzz Rocker “Cigarette”

Alex Bloom might have been best known for his slightly-mellow Southern California-influenced freak-folk concoction on previous releases, but his latest single “Cigarette” finds him bursting into slightly more hard-rockin’ sounds. For a song as lyrically idiosyncratic and simply euphoric in the chorus as this song, you’ll need some pretty spectacular visuals as accompaniment. Today you get your chance to see those visuals because we’re premiering the new video for Alex Bloom’s “Cigarette.”

Upon immediate viewing, the scenes of a slightly-long-haired fellow looking a little stoned and walking around Los Angeles’ Eastside, the first name that probably comes to mind is Ty Segall. That would be appropriate because Bloom’s dynamic use of acoustic power chords in the verse and explosively fuzzed-out guitars in the chorus sounds like something right off of Melted.

The lyrics of the song lists off a wide variety of items and how they would relate to a cigarette: “Red Bull and a cigarette / coffee on a cigarette / leather jacket cigarette / nose ring in a cigarette / baby stroller cigarette / pickup and a cigarette / Adidas and a cigarette” (he wears ADIDAS flip flogs throughout the video). While during the verse the shots of LA are washed out and split between ClipArt images of what the vocalist has mentioned, the chorus brings out vivacious colors with Bloom glowing a freakish mutant green color around his edges.

The second verse is where things really pick up, continuing the same stylistic theme of the first verse (“Chemo and a cigarette / gold hoops and a cigarette”) but adding subtle layers like a lead guitar hammering-on and bending notes away in the background. Those with photo-sensitivity look out because during the climactic build-up of the song, a cigarette rapidly flashes on the screen before everything goes haywire and Bloom becomes nothing more than four feet and two legs walking down Sunset Boulevard.

Alex Bloom tour dates

5/24 – Los Angeles, CA – The Tangier Room at the Hotel Figueroa
6/13 – Los Angeles, CA – The Hotel Café