Reduction in Force “What’s Next”

The stop-motion animated music video for “What’s Next?,” the debut single from Reduction in Force, is about as comprehensive an introduction to pop-rock singer and songwriter Mike Mills as any listener could ever want. In the video, Mills’ bursting music room comes alive, and every object has a story to tell. Mix tapes, Vox, a Sony Sports walkman, Fender, colored vinyl spinning on a turntable, Fillmore posters, and a whole life laid out in memorabilia and photographs testify to his devotion to a vision. A future meticulously crafted – rooted in transformation. And, there’s a time stamp. The stack of childhood photos validates how long his desire to create has been with him (30+years). A sports page from the San Diego newspaper trumpets, “Dreams Do Come True,” grounding him in Southern California while also providing a glimmer of hope in a childhood full of wounds stemming from rooting for a perennial loser.

But mostly, it’s the LPs on the wall that let fans know exactly where Mills is coming from. He’s covered his room with the classics of new wave, post-punk, and ‘80s and ‘90s alternative rock: Depeche Mode, The Smiths, Human League, New Order, and Peter Gabriel’s third. From this DNA comes “What’s Next?” Mills builds upon the sound and feeling of his musical heroes with a track that channels the mystery, the reflection, and rebellion, and the urgency of the music that he embraces. That slashing overdriven six-string, the throbbing synthesizer, the relentless electronic beat, and the deadpan — but magnetic — vocals are all indebted to the Second British Invasion, the golden age of college radio, with some updates under the hood.

In attitude and disposition, Reduction in Force is completely modern. The yearning for human connection that radiates from this track marks it unmistakably as of our times. The video, too, could only have been made by somebody who has not only survived but thrived and emerged from life with more than a few stories to tell. Mills makes a stuffed rat (his name is Norman – a dear childhood relic) the protagonist of the “What’s Next?” video and sets the little quadruped upon the big world. What this underdog achieves over 3 minutes is nothing less than confronting, transcending, and incorporating a fortress made out of memories into his new life. A life envisioned some 30+ years earlier. A distant vision guided by drums, guitars, synths, and the undeniable power of rock music.