It hurts a little to admit, but we remember the actual day when “Video Killed the Radio Star.” The launch of MTV was supposedly going to revolutionize music. It sort of did, but those first few years of the channel we were subject to music videos, like this new one from Pittsburgh grungy noise mongers Mirakler, “Exodus (A Continuous Mutation),” that frankly left you scratching your head. It was either, someone had a high concept and completely missed the mark, or they had no concept and threw some random footage together behind the music. But unlike, say, Krokus’s “Screaming in the Night,” video, the filling-rattler we’re debuting here from this Yinzer trio—Daniel Gene (guitar/vocals), Will Novalis (bass), Matt Langille (drums)—won’t leave you with the impression that it was the result of too much money and cocaine. Quite the opposite, in fact: this is as chaotic and low budget as befits the edgy, aggro vibe of the accompanying track. And in lieu of extended shots of Marc Storace’s hairy chest we get a considerably less hirsute dude running through the forest in long johns.
The “Exodus (A Continuous Mutation)” video was directed by Gene and stars Anthony Ambroso (long johns dude, we presume). The track was taken from Mirakler’s debut, How I Became the Devil which was recorded and mixed by Scot Moriarty at Backroom Studios and mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege. John Kerr played drums on the album.
How I Became the Devil is set for release on vinyl and digitally on June 23 via Reptilian Records. You can place your preorder here. Mirakler will be hitting the road in July in support of the release. See the dates below the video for more details.
Daniel Gene had this to say about the video:
“All three of us love films. We were talking about the old Nosferatu one day and, as this was my first venture into making a video, I decided I could hide a bunch of my shortcomings in the black and white format. It’s basically like a fuzz or delay pedal: conceal everything. I also kind of feel like there’s a bit of an early ’90s grunge thing going on, possibly subconsciously. There’s a sort of a ‘Jeremy’ feel to parts of it, as well as ‘Outshined’ . . . Who am I kidding? I shot this on an iPhone. It looks like an iPhone video. It was a lot of fucking fun.”
Mirakler tour dates:
July 13 – Philadelphia, PA @ Breadbox
July 14 – North Bergen, NJ @ North Bergen VFW
July 15 – Wilmington, DE @ Squeezebox Records
July 16 – Willimantic, CT @ Willimantic Records
July 17 – Troy, NY @ Troy Speakeasy
July 18 – Manchester, NH @ Thrive Outdoors
July 19 – Cambridge, MA @ Zuzu
July 20 – Washington, DC @ The Runaway (w/ Cherubs)
July 21 – Baltimore, MD @ The Crown (w/ Cherubs)
July 22 – Richmond, VA @ Cobra Cabana
Oct 21 – Denton, TX @ No Coast Fest
