Drab Majesty Direct Bad Stuff “Nepenthe” Video

Bad Stuff offer a final preview of their self-titled debut album (out June 5 via Relapse Records) with today’s release of “Nepenthe” and its accompanying video. The clip was directed by Drab Majesty’s Andrew Clinco, edited by Drab Majesty’s Alex Nicolaou, and filmed in Bad Stuff’s hometown of Dallas on three vintage video cameras from the ‘80s and ‘90s.

“Nepenthe” opens with a propulsive synth and guitar melody, recalling early Siouxsie and the Banshees and Gary Numan but delivered with a twist once we’re greeted by bendy clean guitar leads straight out of The Jesus and Mary Chain handbook.

“We shot the video over two days on vintage Hitachi, Panasonic, and Sony broadcasting cameras from Andrew’s collection,” guitar player Dan Phillips notes. “Each of the cameras have their own unique, and somewhat nasty look to them, which is exactly what we wanted for this video. We also used every in-camera effect we could so that everything was happening live to tape. Andrew had such a command of his cameras and creative ways to use and manipulate them. Alex then chopped everything up and put it all back together into a perfectly chaotic yet somehow naturally flowing string of clips that fit the song exactly right.”

Bad Stuff previously released two singles: “Summer Girls,” a simmering track anchored by hypnotic circular rhythms, low end drone, and Phillips’ unmistakable guitar work, and most recently “Invisible Man,” which was co-written by Phillips and vocalist Gabriel Spatz.

The band began as two separate projects: Latent Print, an instrumental outfit featuring Phillips and Nicole Estill, and Concord Kill, Jackie Dunn Smith’s synth and drum machine driven project. “So these songs from our two bands are sitting there, one set that I wrote for Latent Print and another set that Jackie wrote on a four-track recorder, and one day we decided that maybe we’d try to put it all together and see if it worked,” recalls Phillips.

“And it did. When we were doing the sequence for the record, that “switching the dial“ thing became apparent– there’s not just one sound or one style. It really makes the pacing of the record work and sort of showcases each of the songs.” 

Bad Stuff is available now for pre-order/pre-saves (https://orcd.co/badstuff) on vinyl, CD, and digitally.

Bad Stuff is Dan Phillips (Guitar), Jackie Dunn Smith (Vocals, Synth), Nicole Estill (Vocals, Drums), Gabriel Spatz (Vocals, Maracas) and Laura Hartman Pearl (Bass). The seeds for Bad Stuff were planted when a friend asked Phillips to start a residency at a Dallas-based lounge, thereby creating an instrumental band with a true crime bent called Latent Print. Those songs, built for a two-piece, would showcase his considerable rockabilly chops with Nicole Estill (also of True Widow) sliding into the drum throne for the first time.

Latent Print created several bespoke compositions for the residency as the band was slated to play on a weekly basis, but the COVID lockdown permanently ended those gigs. Fast forward a bit to the lockdown days and Phillips’s partner Dunn Smith revealed her work as Concord Kill– synth and drum machine driven tracks built on a four track. Once Phillips added guitar and the two began reshaping material from both projects, Bad Stuff was born.