Aggros, the project headed up by ex-Cro-Mags guitarist Parris Mayhew, is here with an incredibly interesting new single "City Kids." The single draws equal inspiration from bands like Led Zeppelin and Rush as much as it does Metallica and Black Flag, and is a follow-up to the debut Aggros song "Chaos Magic." In keeping with the follow-up theme, the video for "City Kids" is a spiritual successor to the previous effort.
“Musicians collect musical memories over the years, memories of what music can be, and they throw those ideas in a toolbox of memory," said Mayhew. "In part one of the song, I drew from my memory of Black Flag bassist Chuck Dukowski, the Joe Frazier of bass players for the thunderous bass onslaught in part one. On the second half titled 'Ghosts Of New York,' I employed the surgical three-finger right-hand style and finesse inspired by Geddy Lee, a guide that has colored my playing since the beginnings of my high school band, the Cro-Mags. The lasting imprint on me from both these bands Rush and Black Flag, and others forged this music, but for completely different reasons. And when I found myself again meshing these polar opposite influences into one song, it just felt right.”
“For the video, I wanted to pick up where 'Chaos Magic' left off visually as if it were the same endless sodium vapor light-filled night, and my tour of the New York of my youth continues. The colors, the haunting memories carved out of the darkness, the streets, and the night. But I also wanted to show how NYC is a 24-hour city and even a seemingly daytime spot like a skatepark has another life after dark, a nightshift.
"And of course, skateboarding and graffiti have always been a part of NYC life, so the location of the graffiti-washed LES skatepark was perfect. I didn’t want 'City Kids' to be a skateboarding video per se, so I decided to shoot the skateboarding in a more cinematic way as opposed to just flashy Tik Tok/Instagram tricks, I wanted to show skateboarding as part of life, how we navigate the streets, so I included shot sequences with my nephew John Mayhew, who plays the role as the central character skateboarding. It’s a slice of life, a peek into our world."
Aggros will continue to release one song at a time, with an accompanying music video for every song, which will eventually culminate on the upcoming EP Rise Of The Aggros in 2022.
