Photo by Peter Jayne
Electro powerviolence project NUCLEAR DUDES is pleased to unleash their video for “Antisax.” Now playing at Decibel Magazine, the track comes off the band’s Skeletal Blasphemy full-length released last month via The Ghost Is Clear Records.
NUCLEAR DUDES is the inventive, anarchic yet sophisticated project of multi-instrumentalist and underground mainstay Jon Weisnewski (Sandrider, Akimbo) originally conceived as a COVID-19 lockdown hyper hybrid. A clever blend of Gary Numan meets Carcass, the project has since grown longer legs to include collaborations and a wider array of influences. Skeletal Blasphemy is perhaps the most focused effort yet under the NUCLEAR DUDES moniker, a rollercoaster team-up with Coady Willis (High On Fire, Melvins, Murder City Devils), one of heavy rock’s most lauded percussionists.
Elaborates director Whitey McConnaughy in part on the band’s “Antisax” video, “We shot the video on a 1981, analog, tube video camera. These old tube cameras react erratically to high-intensity light. The vacuum tubes cause lights to streak and ghost effects (images burned into the sensors) to occur when pointed at light sources. High intensity lights can cause the camera to glitch, colors to shift and bleed, and in some cases, cause images to momentarily freeze up. The idea was to not only embrace these negatives but to push them to the breaking point. Just as the vacuum tubes in a guitar amp will make the tone (purposely) distort when overheated, these old camera’s video tubes will distort images when pushed beyond their recommended settings and that’s exactly what we did.
“All the lighting, camera glitches and color FX in the video were done in-camera. No video FX or plug-ins were used in the edit. The look was created by quickly adjusting the camera tube’s color settings and light sensitivity settings to the rhythm of the track in real time as the Nuclear Dudes performed the song… This was an extremely low budget video. We shot the entire video at Coady’s small, empty practice space with a crew of three people. We created a rear projection screen out of a plastic drop cloth, pulled taught between some PVC pipes. Before the shoot, I edited a video of colored backgrounds with varying light intensities to the beat of the track, which we later projected behind the band as they played.
“I think the old, analog video gives the images a surreal, painterly quality while tweaking the light sensitivity setting gives moments a ‘nuclear look to them. We were constantly surprised by the images we were getting as we were shooting. Occasionally, we’d all stop and check out the video playback and laugh out loud at how crazy the images looked. This video is a true example of, necessity being the mother of invention.”
Adds Decibel, “It’s a little new wavey, a little sludgey, a little progressive, and a whole lotta heavy and weird. And the accompanying video, shot with early ’80s tech, is like Devo playing some mid-’90s Today Is The Day.”
Watch NUCLEAR DUDES’ “Antisax” video HERE.
Mixed by Matt Bayles (Giant Squid, Isis) and mastered by Ed Brooks at Resonant Mastering, Skeletal Blasphemy arrived mere weeks after the previous effort Truth Paste, a grindy, violent, twenty-minute collaboration with vocalist Brandon Nakamura.
NUCLEAR DUDES’ Skeletal Blasphemy is available digitally and on limited vinyl.
Find vinyl orders at The Ghost Is Clear Records webshop HERE and digital orders at Bandcamp HERE.
“It’s punky, it’s powerful, and at times sounds both primitive and futuristic in equal measures. It’s a wild listen by its very nature.” – MetalSucks
“…a creative masterclass while also being a heavy, pummeling mindfuck…” — The Sleeping Shaman
“…a true ear bleeder with endless creativity.” – MXDWN
“Part two of an unexpected double header for the year, Skeletal Blasphemy straps drummer Coady Willis in a ship with Jon Weisnewski and launches that shit into the sun with unwavering punk energy…Two albums in one year is a lot for any project… but the succinct nature makes them hit hard and not feel like wasted effort in a crowded space.” — Everything Is Noise
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