If you’ve been keeping tabs on Wieuca since they formed in 2012, you’ll know they’re not the easiest band to pin down. The group have proven themselves to be comfortable working in a wide variety of genres, with songs that run the gamut from punk and rock to hip-hop, psychedelia, electronic, pop, and more. This freewheeling eclecticism has proven to be a boon for the Atlanta/Athens four-piece. Not only has it allowed them to connect with a larger pool of music fans, but it’s also led to an array of collaborative partnerships.
In fact, “Get Off My Cloud” marks the third such team-up this year. Following standalone singles with Nashville’s Ruby the Rabbitfoot and Awful Records founder and rapper Father, this latest track sees Wieuca teaming up with Monsoon frontperson Sienna Chandler. The energetic cut hitches its wagon to Jack Webster’s punchy bassline and bounces along with a sharp yet playful intensity. Meanwhile, Chandler and Will Ingram trade stinging barbs on the volatility of local scene politics as well as the destructive narcissism of Rolling Stones’ founder Brian Jones.
If the song title and caustic chorus don’t tip you off, let me confirm that “Get Off My Cloud” is, indeed, a direct reference to the Stones’ 1965 classic. Only here the raucous reinterpretation is used as an indictment against Jones’ rockstar buffoonery and problematic (if not outright abusive) legacy. When Ingram lets loose a spirited recorder solo midway through the track, it’s meant as a mocking tribute to the late composer and musician.
“Jones was credited for popularizing new instruments and textures into the 60’s psychedelia movement, most prominently the recorder,” the band wrote in a press release. “This track pays a begrudging tribute to (or parody of) Jones with a recorder solo. When Jones finally dies toward the end of the track, he gets his own cloud in rock’n’roll heaven, from which he can judge other artists for eternity.”
Directed by Ingram, the video splits its time between studio performances and a news broadcast from the imaginary D.I.Y Action News where Ingram and Chandler appear as co-anchors. It’s all delivered in an absurdist tongue-in-cheek fashion which feels like the perfect complement to the frothy energy of the track.
Watch/listen above.
Wieuca are also using the release of “Get Off My Cloud” as an opportunity to announce their third album Burning Platform. The elven-song record will be out Oct. 1 via Land of the Freak Recordings. Details are still fairly thin, but you can check out the full tracklist below.
Burning Platform tracklist:
01. Life On Hold
02. TurboFaith LLC
03. Love Shaq
04. Get Off My Cloud (feat. Sienna Chandler)
05. Dollop
06. Why You Kuh (feat. La Chat)
07. Man of the House
08. Everybody’s Living in Their Own World
09. Llycra
10. Domestic Bliss
11. Ciggy Gnardust
Wieuca will perform on Sat., Sept. 25 at AthFest alongside Monsoon, Neighbor Lady, Wanderwild, Tedo Stone, Well Kept and many more. Further details to come via AthFest.com. Atlanta fans can also catch the group on Sat., Oct. 2 at the EARL alongside the Minks and Shantih Shantih. Doors open at 8 p.m. Admission is $12 in advance or $15 DOS. 21+ to enter. Proof of vaccination or negative COVID test required. Mask up, y’all.
More Info
Web: wieucamusic.com
Bandcamp: wieuca.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @wieucaband
Instagram: @wieucallc
SoundCloud: @wieuca
Twitter: @wieucaLLC