“Motorcycle, there’s no god tonight. Only streetlights.”
Staten Island’s Lucky Witch and the Righteous Ghost is an eclectic group of erstwhile poltergeists.
LWRG formed in 2016 when vocalist/guitarist E. Niveous Rayside sought electronic sounds for the grunge-inspired music he was making. He started a musical partnership with his girlfriend (now wife), R. Brookes McKenzie, later rounding out the sound with bassist Eric Novak and drummer Jay Ackley. The quartet earned a cult following at the late SideWalk Café in the East Village.
“LWRG is driven by a strong muse to create,” says Niveous. Since 2016, the band has released a studio album called Spiderdust, as well as a live album chronicling their times in the East Village open mic scene called Night Owls. In 2019, they released an EP called All Hard Feelings, and they started off the year releasing their second studio album New Ways To Make Mistakes. Now the band is already crafting songs for album #3.
Motorcycle is the first single release from their second studio album, New Ways To Make Mistakes.
Self-described as “a concentrated ball of pure awesome,” LWRG is a rock n’ roll lineup with heavy grunge and garage influences, sprinkled with the ethereal chimes of a Suzuki Omnichord. “We have heard our sound referred to as “sunshine goth” and “What if the Cramps were Jefferson Airplane?” says Niveous. “We like to call it sparklegrunge. I write music for the sad kids.”
Motorcycle, inspired by the music of Curve, was written in the back of an Uber on the way to the studio to record LWRG’s first album. The dreary day inspired the song’s tale of a doomed motorcyclist. The video game Black Emperor by Jose Tomas Vicuna also served as inspiration.
The band worked with Alice Teeple to direct a live performance video with superimposed stock footage. Motorcycle was filmed on location in the cellar of a Gothic revival mansion in Hamilton Park, Staten Island. The eerie stone walls and psychedelic lights, straight out of the Addams Family, complement the dark lyrics of Motorcycle.
Downtown is pleased to present the premiere of Motorcycle.
Purchase New Ways To Make Mistakes here
New Ways To Make Mistakes
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