Video Premiere: Luggage – ‘Shift’

Photo: Josh Ford

Luggage do things a little more thoughtfully than some of their peers in the noise rock scene. The Chicago trio, who are all set to release their third album Shift in November, rely on lurching grooves, sharp riffs and subdued, defiant vocals as their sonic tools of choice. On title track “Shift,” which you can listen to below alongside an accompanying video, there’s a lot of attention paid to atmosphere and mood. The repetition sets a frantic tone, even when the song is slowing down; it comes as little surprise to learn that Michael Vallera has a background in ambient music.

“We recorded Shift last summer at Electrical Audio with Matthew Barnhart, who we worked with on our last record,” Luggage tell Decibel. “It really felt like the three of us in the band and him kinda grew in the same direction together, each of us figuring out where we needed to be when it came to making this album. The entire thing was a practice in minimalism, creating as much as possible with as little as possible. We approached the video the same way. We chose to work with Josh Ford because we love the work he’s done with some of our favorite bands, and knew he was a master of conjuring the dark arts. When it came to making this video, he had the same concept that we did when we made the album: create something intense and raw with as few moving parts as possible. It was love at first sight with Josh, we were all immediately on the same page.

“We’re Chicago boys, and we feel like we capture a lot of the city’s energy in the music we make. Hooking up with Corpse Flower for the record was great… it’s a Detroit label, and keeping the whole operation based in the Midwest was super important and exciting for us. There’s such a specific feel and sound to things happening in Midwestern cities. It’s where we’re from, it’s where we love being, and it’s an honor to be able to represent this part of the country.”

Shift is out November 22 on Corpse Flower.