The Roadside Bandits Project, from West London producer Santi Arribas, takes on the scourge of untrustworthy public servants with the directness of Gang of Four, whose lead singer John Sterry collaborates and sings the group’s latest snarling single “My Own Lies.” “I look you in the eye,” Sterry snarls, “and I almost believe my own lies.”
The Vinyl District is proud to premiere the timely video for “My Own Lies” today, with its very contemporary Know Nothing declaration “You don’t need knowledge to know/ Experts are past it/ Time to put your faith on show” coming just a week after Sen. Rand Paul mused pretty much the same thing in a Senate coronavirus hearing (“We shouldn’t presume that a group of experts somehow knows what’s best for everyone.”)
Politics rule on The Roadside Bandits Project’s eponymously named album this fall, with songs like “Borders,” “Landfill,” and an earlier single “Sombre Circus” featuring Nell Bryden. The new video for “My Own Lies” features sinister footsteps, under the table payments, and a cactus-headed politician that seems out of Magritte. We also see Sterry sing, but only in a very close shot of his mouth—showing only the parts of his face that would be covered by a mask in the pandemic era.
“The video tries to show through simple imagery, the behavior of modern politicians whose only resource to convince the public is to lie,” Arribas says. “The symbolism highlights their cynicism and detachment, as well as the way in which they attempt to bolster support, appease and control by building a narrative which is everything to everyone.”
Matt Johnson of Jamiroquai handles the ominous keyboards on the track; Jon Finnigan of Gang of Four is on drums, and Arribas is on everything else including the stinging guitar solo at the song’s center. The collective includes a number of musicians who have toured and recorded with Noel Gallagher and Adele, but the Gang of Four connection seems strongest.
Arribas helped engineer the last Gang of Four album What Happens Next in 2015, Live … In the Moment the following year, and the impending EP “Anti Hero” due in stores on July 17. And in addition to Sterry and Finnigan, Gang of Four’s founding member Andy Gill also participated in The Roadside Bandits Project before his death following an Asian tour on February 1 at 64.
