The Action Design “Connect/Disconnect”

The Action DesignArtist:
THE ACTION DESIGN
Label:
POPSMEAR RECORDS
Video:
“CONNECT/DISCONNECT”
Director:
DJay Brawner
Add Date:
April 9, 2008

 

Howdy music video lovers, it’s Andy Gesner and the hard working staff from HIP Video Promo bring you an exciting new band made up of a highly accomplished group of rockers. Tsunami Bomb was a fantastic unit: tight, incendiary, chaotic, catchy, influential. They’ll be remembered for their explosive sound, their immediate songs, their ferocious live performances, and for the legion of young California punk groups whose own music they inspired. That said, the band’s riotous, guitar-heavy albums did not always showcase singer Emily “Agent M” Whitehurst’s spectacular, arena-ready voice. In concert, it was always clear; there, Whitehurst came on like a hybrid of Gwen Stefani and Johnny Rotten, with all the tunefulness of the former and the attitude of the latter. Emily Whitehurst has brought that edge to her latest project – The Action Design. You could call it a punk band – and you’d be correct – but the new group is indebted to Britpop and dance-rock traditions, too. Whitehurst sings it all with remarkable skill, power, good humor, and charisma. She’s left of the dial by nature, a true insurgent; but she’s got a voice that would fit in well at the very top of the charts.

Into A Sound, The Action Design’s debut EP, is an explosion of sound and color, and a perfect middle ground between uncompromising punk, experimental pop, and commercial-radio rock. Echoes of Green Day and Glassjaw are apparent in the band’s music, but there’s also much here that’s reminiscent of mid-Nineties female-fronted bands like Sleeper, Echobelly, and Elastica. And that’s not just because of Whitehurst’s singing; bassist (and fellow Tsunami Bomb alum) Matt MacKenzie’s clever parts also suggest familiarity with oddball pop and British punk. They’ve been joined by two other adventurous California musicians: drummer Jake Krohn of The Rum Diary and guitarist Jaycen McKissick of the confrontational Pipedown. Since combining forces a little less than two years ago, they’ve been lauded in the Alternative Press, cheered on the 2007 Warped Tour, and followed with interest by punk and alt-pop fans alike. In 2008, they’ve been on the road constantly, touring all over the United States; they’ll be catching up with the Warped Tour again in June, and finding time in between shows to complete their first full-length

The ambitious “Connect/Disconnect” will surely be a highlight of that set. It’s sharply-written and energetically-performed pop-punk – but the band pauses the six-string assault for a sweetly-sung piano-and-drums bridge worthy of Metric. Emily Whitehurst’s breathy whisper proves just as powerful as her soaring lead on the choruses. DJay Brawner’s straightforward and eminently-watchable clip for “Connect/Disconnect” focuses on Whitehurst: against a white background, her bandmates beside her, she delivers the song to the camera. She looks terrific, too – red lipstick, red streaks dyed into her black hair, black clothing, and a mirror-necklace in the shape of an elephant that keeps flipping from the reflecting side to its solid-pink back. Brawner doesn’t always shoot her in close-up, preferring to keep his distance from the frontwoman – that way, he’s able to include her in combination shots with other members of her band. She hurls herself at the microphone, rattling her black microphone cable as she gyrates..

We are very excited to have the opportunity to bring you this exciting new clip. The band has been kind enough to hook with plenty of copies of Into A Sound for your on-air giveaway needs, so please drop us a line if you’d like to get your hands on some. We’d also like to point out that the band has a slew of tour dates coming up so let us know if you’d like to set up a video interview when they come to you market. If you need more info, call Andy Gesner at 732-613-1779 or e-mail us at Info@HIPVideoPromo.com. You can also visit www.PopSmearRecords.com to find out more about The Action Design.


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