by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Baltimore trio Wing Dam's new video "I'm Wild" is well... a bit wild, but it's more a statement of liberation. There's skimasks, skateboarding and a lot of almost exposed breasts. They're mostly covered, but depending on what you do for work, you're probably not going to want to watch this one in the office. The video is a bit like Spring Breakers except for the violence, as Wing Dam prefer dancing, carousels, and yarn penises to anything truly dangerous.
"I'm Wild" packs Wing Dam's signature fuzzy slacker pop with a rich guitar solo and Sara Autrey's thick melodies into a song that jangles between pop and a riff not too far from old skate punk. The beach front vibes and boardwalk debauchery will have you thinking it's summer again, a most fitting season for Wing Dam's shimmering pop and oddball punk charm. Embrace it. Let yourself run wild every now and then, but be responsible enough to check out Wing Dam's new album Glow Ahead on Friends Records.
Speaking about the video, Autrey shared:
""I'm Wild" is a collaboration between Ellery Bryan (costumes, creative direction, yarn penis fabrication), Aidan Spann (videographer/director, idea-maker, bubble-machine operator), and myself (hanger-on, poser). The video is a play on the stereotype of what makes a woman/person "wild", or dangerous, outrageous, weird, a "hot mess". It's a daydream of any woman/person who's ever been told to "behave", "be quiet", "tone it down", "act like a normal person", and/or "you're embarrassing me" (also a giant FUCK YOU to the people who said those things to us our whole lives). It's a liberation from the mental jail into which society puts women's/peoples' ideas of themselves, their bodies, and each other.
Performing in public pushed both my and Ellery's thresholds. Threshold for what? There's no word for it. Except maybe the threshold for fear of being arrested because you're a woman in public with pasties on or your nipples showing. That is fucked up and terrifying. It's also a perfect metaphor for how most women feel navigating through this world – like they want to be their true free selves, but are terrified of the societally fabricated yet very tangible consequences. (And, aside from all the heavy, deep stuff – it was a shit ton of fun to make and we love the way it looks because we AND ALL PEOPLE of weirdness are badasses who should be celebrated.)"
Wing Dam's Glow Ahead is out now on Friends Records.