BIG UPS PREMIERE "FEAR" VIDEO WITH STEREOGUM

Posted on April 17th, 2018

[as seen on Stereogum]

Last month, post-hardcore four-piece Big Ups released the first preview of their forthcoming record, Two Parts Together, and today they’re back with a new single and video. No one does cathartic quite like Big Ups; their tension-filled songs tend to build menacingly until they combust into razor-sharp riffs and erratic vocals, and this new song, “Fear,” is no exception.

The accompanying video, made up of YouTube and tour clips pieced together by drummer Brendan Finn, is a montage of Big Ups shows dating as early as 2010. The nostalgic look back seems appropriate, considering that Two Parts Together explores liminality and the anxiety that accompanies the unknown. The video fades out over an ominous stretch of darkened highway while Joe Galarraga sings: “There is much to fear in the morning as the sky reflects the color of newsprint/ There is much to fear in the morning, much to fear at night.”

That being said, the video will make you want to dance (read: thrash around) in a sweaty basement somewhere and forget about life’s uncertainties for a moment. Here’s what Galarraga has to say about “Fear”:

"A lot of this album focuses on liminality and takes place in liminal spaces. “Fear” talks about the unknown and turns it into anxiety – dealing with uncertainties before going to sleep and the difficulty of navigating a new day when confronted with the harshness of reality. This was an interesting song to write because the second verse mirrors the first in such a way that attempts to make the anxieties of the morning and night indistinguishable. The video for ‘Fear’ was pieced together by Brendan using clips he found on YouTube, as well as videos that all of us have taken of our shows and tours over the years. Some of the video dates back as early as 2010; there is footage from our very first show included! It was a fun way to catalog and highlight some of our favorite shows, venues, tours, videographers, and memories, and we hope others can enjoy it, too."