Prolific bedroom project/sometime full band Radiator Hospital has been churning out some of some of the best lo-fi pop-punk in recent memory, including their most recent release, Torch Song. Now, more than a month after that album came out, the band has debuted a new music video for one of the album’s standout tracks, “Bedtime Story”.
In the song, frontman Sam Cook-Parrott sings about how he, “just couldn’t bare to sleep alone,” and seeks comfort in the arms of his partner, as he asks, “will you bring me flowers and run your fingers through my hair?” At the same time, he gives the impression that something, be it circumstance or each other’s affection, has changed, singing, “but your puppy dog glances make me want to cry instead,” and, “I could keep you company in your town,”—in other words a town where the free-wheeling, constantly-touring Cook-Parrott doesn’t live. Each new verse starts with a quickly sung line, before a single, booming snare drum hit marks the band’s launching into a new section of the sugary, pop-punk tune.
The accompanying video starts with Radiator Hospital drummer/future mayor of Earth Jeff Bolt looking dourly into the camera with one thumb extended down and his other hand’s middle finger pointed sideways, cracking a smile just as the rest of the band joins in. Shot on grainy, late 80s VHS quality tape, the video is little more than the band relaxing with their friends (and a cat), laughing and passing around a pipe of what is totally not weed, along with a quick shot of the song’s name hastily scrawled on a piece of poster board. The video reenforces the sense that the song is about trying to rediscover a time before certain complications arose in relationships, even if those relationships, like the low-quality video tape, haven’t aged gracefully.
You can check out Torch Song on Radiator Hospital’s Bandcamp here.
