Hometown Sounds

Everything you thought you knew about what was going on in the Backlash Trilogy of music videos from The Max Levine Ensemble is wrong. Or is it? The pop punk group completed the trifecta today with the premiere of “Backlash, Baby”, billed now as Episode 1 in an apparent reverse chronology, if you really care about stuff like continuity and character motivation. If you just wanted to see more of Priests’ Katie Alice Greer and Ilsa’s Sharad Satsangi in a badass spy thriller, then your prayers are finally answered. Grab the album, see them March 13th at the Black Cat, yadda yadda.

It’s ambitious projects like the in-progress 3 part music video series from The Max Levine Ensmeble that make us feel extra good about our mission to get you to see more DC music videos. If you recall from the last video “Sun’s Early Rays”, Katie Alice Greer stole the doomsday device from the evil villain Sharad Satsangi and escaped. This time in “My Valerian” singer David Combs’s brain is swapped for the device, and trippiness ensues courtesy of animator Ben Levin, well known as a writer on Steven Universe and creator of his own series Doris & Mary Anne Are Breaking Out Of Prison, which I am totally binge watching next Saturday morning. The new album Backlash, Baby drops November 20th and TMLE celebrate with a record release show Sunday November 22nd at Black Cat. Expect doomsday devices.

Everyone is surely losing their minds over the December release of the new Star Wars flick, but did you know that Daniel Craig’s fourth turn as James Bond, the Sam Mendes directed Spectre, comes out in just a couple of weeks? DC pop-punks The Max Levine Ensemble capture some of that superspy hype in “Sun’s Early Rays”, the first single from their new album Backlash, Baby, their first since 2008. Starring Katie Alice Greer from Priests and Sharad Satsangi from Ilsa, this video looks a whole lot slicker than their self-proclaimed “snacks and arts and crafts budget” should suggest. If you’ve enjoyed their summer-long pre-release album “stream” on the Black Cat’s jukebox, you’d better pre-order the vinyl release now while you can, or wait for the record release show on Sunday November 22nd at the Black Cat backstage with Sundials and Maneuvers.

DC music video of the day! The Max Levine Ensemble is a veteran of DC punk music, rocking shows around town and the whole country for more than a decade. Their Bandcamp page has a good chuck of their discography available for download at whatever price you want, including free! Check out the video for Adventures In Petsitting, from the recent EP Elephant In The Room, and experience their live show at Asefu’s (1920 9th St NW) tonight.