photos by Jerry Deeney
“Sans-bullshit heavy crunch? With a chorus? I know; be still my beating heart.” – The Obelisk
“Chew” is the new single from British doom/noise rock/post-rock duo NOISEPICKER, the song found on the band’s impending second album, The Earth Will Swallow The Sun, out March 21st via Exile On Mainstream Records. An incredibly entertaining video for “Chew” made its public debut today through a premiere hosted by The Obelisk.
The video for “Chew” was created, filmed, and edited by NOISEPICKER guitarist/vocalist Harry Armstrong, who reveals, “The two of us live on opposite sides of the country, which makes getting together tricky at times. To the point where we never rehearse. Apart from two songs, we had only played the entire new album together when we entered the studio to record it. And those two tracks were only ever played during soundcheck, an hour before we played them live. Which probably explains a lot! This means we need to be ‘inventive’ when thinking about videos, basically making sure that we are not the main focus of them. We grab footage of each other when we can and store it up in case it’s needed. That’s where the puppet idea came from. I couldn’t get both of us in the same room, so I had to improvise. I think it actually makes for a better video! The song is about hating what you’ve become after chasing the expectations of an unfulfilling society, and only realizing you’ve been had when it’s far too late. You’ve been played. Like a puppet on a string. Enjoy!”
The Obelisk writes in part, “With a sound that’s almost as ’90s noise rock as the band’s logo treatment on the front cover, the three-minute cut rides in on a harsher/harder tonalism and crunching groove. Melvins are an immediate touchstone in terms of sound, but ‘Chew’ has a bit of reach in its chorus and is more about craft than its own weirder facets. The melody in the hook reaches up from deep in the mix with Facelift-era Alice In Chains desperation, and the shifts between the verse and chorus hint in sound toward the punkish ideology driving the shove… Sans-bullshit heavy crunch? With a chorus? I know; be still my beating heart.”
Watch NOISEPICKER’s “Chew” video first only at The Obelisk RIGHT HERE.
Exile On Mainstream will release The Earth Will Swallow The Sun March 21st, digitally and on virgin Black Vinyl LP w/ bundled CD. Find preorders at the label webshop HERE and Bandcamp HERE, and find digital presaves HERE. If you missed it, the video for “What You Deserve” is playing HERE
Additional videos will drop over the next few months surrounding the album’s release, and European tour dates will soon be posted as well.
With more than a quarter of a century of noise making history behind him, singer and guitarist Harry Armstrong returns. Known as the current bass player in Orange Goblin, Armstrong has been a part of delivering the hard rock of Blind River, the sludgy thrash metal of End Of Level Boss, the piano-led jazz rock of The Earls Of Mars, the stoner fix of Hangnail and alongside Bill Steer and Ludwig Witt in Firebird, the instrumental soundscapes of The Winchester Club, the death metal of Decomposed, and many others. Armstrong, alongside drummer Kieran Murphy, are NOISEPICKER.
Having released their first album, Peace Off, through Exile On Mainstream in 2018, other commitments (and the dreaded COVID-19 shutdown) put NOISEPICKER on a slight hiatus, until a stash of unused riff ideas were dusted off during 2024 to make what is about to be their second full-length release, The Earth Will Swallow The Sun. On a permanent search to constantly try “something else,” Armstrong has taken to writing, recording, and mixing this new record himself, just to see if he could accomplish the task. Recorded in a rehearsal room and mixed in his kitchen – assisted only in the mastering, which was handled by Stefan Brüggemann – it is an approach to music with a DIY ethic fully embedded in its heart.
Do not expect neat, polished, note perfect, carefully constructed opuses in this environment. NOISEPICKER is loud, abrasive, and in constant flux, influenced by their love of all things doom, punk, and blues. Come stare aghast at it.
https://www.noisepicker.org
https://noisepicker.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/noisepickernoisepicker
https://www.instagram.com/noisepickerband
https://x.com/infonoisepicker
https://www.mainstreamrecords.de
https://www.youtube.com/@exileonmainstream3639