“It’s all about being an individual and doing whatever you feel, when you feel it, even if it’s running out into the streets and dancing Billy Elliot-style all the way through the town of Dunfermline, Scotland,” says songwriter, recording wizard, singer, guitarist, keyboardist Christian Gisborne of the L.A.-based Velvet Starlings about the new video for “Can’t Control.” Taken from their debut album Technicolour Shakedown released on vinyl today February 8, 2022 by Kitten Robot Records / Sound x 3 Records, the frenetic British Invasion-styled send-up premiered on BlackBook who calls the song, “… a veritable new paradigm of retro-mod, fuzzed out garage rock, with its distorted guitars, swelling Farfisa and relentlessly romping beat. If it doesn’t make you get up and dance wildly around the room, you might want to check to see if you still have a pulse.”
Originally released August 27, 2021, the youthful ’60s-infused garage rock ‘n’ roll band is gearing up for a busy 2022 with the vinyl release of the album and what better way to kick the year off but with a propulsive video? Showcasing youthful abandon in perpetual motion in all its energetic glory, the video features Martin Hughes (brother and bandmate Brian Hughes directed the video) of the Scottish indie band Angelica Mode, who the band shared a stage with while touring in 2019. “Martin is just such a dynamo, he never stops moving,” adds Gisborne.
About the song, Gisborne explained to BlackBook, “‘Can’t Control’ is the closest thing to a soul track that the Starlings have come to. While there’s still your fair share of fuzz organ and distortion on every instrument going on, as a producer, I wanted to go for something that sounded not just like the music our idols made, but the music out idols’ idols made.”
Hailing from Los Angeles and the beach cities of Southern California, Velvet Starlings has released a handful of EPs, singles and its debut album Technicolour Shakedown all before the band members could legally drink. Founded by Christian Gisborne (who incidentally tracked, engineered, mixed and produced their debut album), Velvet Starlings rose to national prominence when they won the “Emerging Stage” competition at Milwaukee’s Summerfest 2019. In 2021, the band returned to Summerfest, but this time on the main stage alongside with Black Pumas, The Struts, Pixies and Cold War Kids.
Technicolour Shakedown is the follow -up to 2019’s EP Love Everything, Love Everyone. Gisborne (who turned 19 in May) released his debut self-titled EP Velvet Starlings when he was 15. Both EP’s charted in the top 5 at Specialty Radio and hit #1 on KROQ’s “Locals Only.” Gisborne also caught the attention of, among others, BBC Radio, Shepard Fairey, and The Kinks’ Dave Davies who all count themselves as fans of Velvet Starlings.
Speaking about the album which hearkens neo-’60s garage – best described as beach-fuzz-psych with a big cheeky nod to the UK Invasion, Gisborne says “in the doom and gloom of Covid I found myself reminiscing all the time about the days when we would wait in line for hours to see our favorite bands. The songs on the first album reflect everything I felt I was missing out on.”