Ah, sweet nostalgia. This week’s Video Clip, “I Crave” by Mar Vista, California’s Xu Xu Fang, takes me right back to my glory days as a recovering goth, and many, many blissful Saturday night’s spent in the vault-like confines of the late, great NYC dance club The Bank. There, I danced until dawn to classic, spooky tunes by Bauhaus, Ministry, NIN, The Cure and others, while my eyeballs were nearly seared shut by thick clouds of acrid cigarette smoke, and boys in makeup up were just everywhere. Good times. “I Crave,“ with its chugging industrial guitar, insistent, electronic drum beats and ethereal, siren-like vocals is exactly the kind of song that would have packed The Bank’s tiny dance floor. God, I miss that place.
Visually, it’s the dry-ice fest that allows me to easily imagine Xu Xu Fang right on The Bank’s stage as well, in a live performance that seduces both aurally and visually, while compelling you to wonder just why in the hell the band members are wearing those…rubber masks? Who else reading this sees rubber masks and automatically thinks of the Keanu Reeves / Patric Swayze Bank Robbing Surfer adventure classic, Point Break? It can’t be just me.
“I Crave” comes from Xu Xu Fang’s wildly anticipated debut full-length album, Daylong Secret, which will be released on March 4th, 2016 via The Sound Ranch. Trivia: Michael Shuman of Queens of the Stone Age joined the band in the studio, recording bass and duet lead vocals on several new songs! Enjoy!
Xu Xu Fang Band Photograph By Piper Ferguson
