by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Science Man is the ever combustible solo project of Buffalo’s John Toohill (Alpha Hopper, Ismatic Guru, Johns), a musician that has earned his pedigree in just about every sub-genre of punk. 2020 saw the release of the chaotic noise rock meets garage punk of Science Man II, an album that sneered with a swampy twang, sounding like David Yow belting out songs during a sordid bender. Which is to say, the record ripped. Science Man returns once again with Nines Mecca, due out March 18th via Swimming Faith and Feral Kid Records on both LP and VHS. The new record is faster, nastier, and a bit more direct, offering a pummeling that sits somewhere between hardcore and blistering punk, and with it comes ten new videos, one per song that piece together the Nines Mecca story.
Having already shared “Poach The Mind’s Eye” and “Cinema C.E.N.S.,” we’ve got the third installment in the series, “Healer” and it’s metaphysical music video. The song is corrosive and unstable, twisting from one wild tempo to the next, a hardcore pummel with plenty of enormous riffs. It’s all well blown out and delightfully abrasive, pounding one moment and well…pounding even harder the next. The video, directed, filmed, and edited by John Toohill with costumes, masks, and stop motion animations from Lindsay Tripp, is decidedly low-budget but highly effective, capturing a cult ritual of sorts that has seemingly gone awry as our healer summons the dark powers.
Speaking about the video, Toohill shared:
“The history of the end of the world is a long and troubled one and there never seems to be a shortage of people looking to capitalize on the suffering. It's a real mess and anyone claiming to have it all figured out should rarely be trusted. So ya know, don't join any cults or trust any rich people. You can believe me cuz look at this video... we don't have any money or any friends anymore.”