If you’re ever trying to figure out where to place the Locksmyth on the musical spectrum, just stop. There are far too many threads to account for: rock, blues, folk, country, Americana, grunge — all this and more rear their head at some point on the band’s latest LP, Exquisite Villains. However, if you’re looking for a style or theme that helps tie it all together, perhaps you can point to an overriding sense of the theatrical. In her review of the record, Sal McArthur called the LP, “Half vaudeville, half rock opera,” and that strikes me as a fair summary.

That being the case, it’s natural to view band mastermind Ethan Gabriel Jack as something of a ringmaster or lead showman, both titles which he happens to wear distinctly well. Whenever he’s doing Locksmyth type things you can catch him dressed somewhere between a turn-of-the-century dandy and a Williamsburg barista, and that’s certainly no accident. It’s part vintage, part period costume, and he manages to pull it off without any trace of irony or self-doubt. The look has become intertwined with his identity, and the man knows how to own it.

I bring this up now because questions of identity play a central role in the Locksmyth’s new video “Bottom of It.” Filmed by Taylor Tindell and edited by Taylor and Jasmine Tindell, the clip opens with Jack coming to on a set of deserted train tracks. He experiences a few faded flashbacks to clue him in on how he arrived there, but what becomes immediately important is that one of his defining accessories — his U.S. flag-draped bowler hat — has gone missing.

As the video progresses, Jack comes across two separate hats, each of a different style and marked by a number. When he puts them on, he assumes a new persona. When he wears a fedora, he is transformed into a businessman. When it’s a deerstalker, he becomes a pipe-smoking intellectual in the mode of Sherlock Holmes.

But more critical than the hats or the transformations he undergoes, are the nightmarish things that happen to him when he assumes these new identities. As the businessman, he’s assailed by kidnappers who beat him and hold him hostage. As the intellectual, he’s set upon by two fiendish children in masks who run him down, first on foot and then on dirt bikes. Only when he catches a glimpse of a woman wearing his bowler hat does the cycle of violence come to an end as Jack once again finds himself coming to on the train tracks.

So what does this all mean? My guess is that it’s some sort of commentary on the nature of being and the idea that we all have to travel down many paths, try on many personas, and suffer many hardships before we can give shape to our true identity. But, hey, what do I know? I’m just stoked that we’re able to premiere this for you today. It’s an engaging mix of dynamic songwriting and clever storytelling that isn’t afraid to ask larger questions. How deep does the bottom go? Well, that’s for you to find out.

More Info
Bandcamp: the-locksmyth.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @TheLocksmyth
Twitter: @The_Locksmyth