Philadelphia-based Coping Skills are a couple of charming non-binary humans who describe their music as “moderately gay post-ironic bummer pop.” In the spirit of self-deprecation (something the band excels at), their upcoming record is called Worst New Music. We’re excited to premiere their brand new video for “I’d Rather Not (Yeah),” in which singer/guitarist Rachel and singer/bassist Lauren struggle through the mundanity of everyday life, til they’re finally able to flip the script and rock out together. It’s a tongue-in-cheek high five to everyone who’s just trying to get through the damn day, with a hook that’ll be stuck in your head for the rest of the week. You’re welcome.
According to Rachel, “The video is an incredibly on-the-nose representation of art imitating life. We replicated the real narrative of the two of us trudging through our independent but parallel lives, finding the experience wholly unsatisfying until the moment where our worlds meet and we finally get to do what we want: play music together.”
(Strobe warning for 2:14.)
“We filmed in our own house and the studio where Lauren works. We enlisted our boss (Gina) from the job we work together to fire us across both individual stories. Gina’s appearance even serves as a repeated theme from our previous video, where she also fires us. It’s a shining example of what we do best: committing to the bit.”
Lauren explained, “The most important theme throughout the song and video is ‘the way that life can suck,’ or having to trudge through the things you have to do so that eventually you can do the things you want to do. It’s a feeling everyone has experienced and is kind of the main side effect of living in this late capitalist hell. It’s not glamorous or exciting or even that interesting most of the time, it just is what it is. Because we only had 5 people involved in the entirety of the filming (3 of us being on screen), we had to utilize a couple of interesting techniques to get all the shots we wanted. For example, we filmed the biking and driving shots with one of us driving and our videographer hanging out the back hatch of Rachel’s car.”
“When we tell people that Lauren and I play in a band, work the same job, went to college, and live together, it can sound like a lot,” Rachel added. “The reality is that we often have trouble making time to spend with one another even despite all those ‘opportunities,’ and I wanted the video to represent what it’s really like for us.”
Worst New Music contains “moving, endearing, and occasionally upsetting songs about, like, the exhausting burden of living under capitalism, post-millennial rot, and the ways mental health can affect both individuals and relationships.” The record is due out April 13, and will be available for preorder, both digitally and on a limited run of 25 glitter or 125 black cassettes. Coping Skills will be on tour throughout the spring, but as of right now you can catch them in Philadelphia on 3/23 at JJ’s Diner for The Music Matters Project Benefit Show, or 4/12 at Johnny Brenda’s.
So sweet!