Tag: Monuments

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Pale Ramon Releases a Hallucinogenic Visual for Rousingly Anthemic “Keep Going”

Deriving their name from Wallace Stevens’ 1934 poem “The Idea of Order at Key West,” in which Stevens examines the creative powers of the human mind, and “to what extent artists are capable of creating, redefining or mastering the natural world around themselves,” Brooklyn-based indie outfit Pale Ramon features two grizzled, New York scene vets — Emanuel and The Fear‘s Emanuel Ayvas (vocals, keys) and former Monuments and Oceanographer Kevin Plessner (guitar).

Last February, the duo went to The Isokon in the Catskills to record their recently released sophomore album Annie with D. James Goodwin. When those sessions ended, they left feeling elated and continued production when they returned to Brooklyn. With pandemic related shutdowns, the duo continued working on the album in their home studios separately. Every few weeks, the pair shared their individual production work — while living through the unease, uncertainty and turmoil of the past year or so. After a few additional days at The Creamery Studio with Jeff Fetting in September, they sent the tracks back to Goodwin for the final mix and mastering.

Annie‘s latest single “Keep Going” sees the duo crafting a textured yet arena rock friendly song that sonically brings Who Are You and Who’s Next era The Who to mind: The song features glistening synth arpeggios squiggling, delay pedaled guitars, thunderous drumming, Emanuel Ayvas’ plaintive vocals and a rousingly anthemic chorus. Much like the material on their full-length debut, “Keep Going” is politically charged capturing the urgency of unique moment with an unerring accuracy. At its core, the song reminds people that although things are difficult and exhausting, that we’re all going to have to be determined to fight for the world we want for ourselves and for the future — or there will be no future.

Produced and edited by Mark Sanders, the recently released video for “Keep Going” employs the creative use of stock footage — g of small children in black and white, shot between the 30s and 50s based on the kids’ outfits; of suit-wearing businessmen; factory workers making candy and other goods — and its paired with psychedelic imagery to create a hypnotic, fever dream.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Deriving their name from Wallace Stevens’ 1934 poem “The Idea of Order at Key West,” in which Stevens examines the creative powers of the human mind, and “to what extent artists are capable of creating, redefining or mastering the natural world around themselves,” the up-and-coming Brooklyn indie rock act Pale Ramon features two grizzled, New York scene vets — Emanuel and The Fear‘s Emanuel Ayvas (vocals, keys) and former Monuments and Oceanographer Kevin Plessner (guitar).

The duo’s self-titled debut is slated for release next Friday, and the album’s first single,  “Beat Punk” is a fiery call for young people, artists, academics, Progressives, Liberals and Lefties to get off their asses, stop tweeting and get to work towards fixing what’s wrong with the world before it’s too late — and as a result, the song is an ardent an urgent, politically charged rock anthem centered around a breakneck motorik groove, rousing hooks that sonically brings Radiohead and Who Are You-era The Who to mind.

The band’s Plessner wrote to PopMatters that the song is a “melt your face rock song,” adding that “it’s a response to everyone who says, ‘They’re just tweets, don’t take [Trump] literally’ and ‘That’s just how he talks.’ It is an expression of anger and fury at political distortion. It’s about demanding civility and truth.” Ayvas concurs, while also clarifying that he and Plessner are trying to be “objective” with their social commentary. “In this song, we’re more in the narrator’s seat, looking at things playing out and describing the two sides of big emotions going on in the country than preaching from a particular sideline,” he notes.