Photo by Kenny Ramos
With the video for their latest release “Vanderbilt”, Hit makes it no secret how they feel about the rapidly accelerating building of oversized high rises suffocating the New York skyline. Aptly named after the 93-story building towering over the city, the track grows from a relatively measured chant of sorts to full out cacophony, bringing with it a sense of claustrophobia that builds and becomes all consuming.
Of the video, the band shared, ““Vanderbilt” is about scratching tally marks on the proverbial cell wall by following the construction progress on a high-rise out your window. Days, weeks, months go by and the building gets taller while you’re in the same spot. But when that one tops out, they’ll just build another, and that perpetual cycle of building shit no one needs — office space that won’t be rented out, luxury suites that will barely be occupied — is just as stagnant.
I’m no expert, but it also seems like there’s this weird, pseudo self-effacing trend in the architecture of newer skyscrapers, where they all have the same tacky-looking glass paneling that’s meant to reflect the sky and, on a bright clear day, make them look invisible. Yet the reality is there’s now all these anonymously ugly high-rises polluting the skyline, at this point blocking out the iconic buildings I used to like to draw as a little kid. This video is what I think of that.”
The track is a more experimental turn for the group who formed in 2020 and started out focusing their efforts in a more power pop direction. That sensibility is still apparent in the melodic hook in the chorus, but their desire to explore beyond that will no doubt leave for interesting music to come, which is to be expected in 2023.
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