Toby Mitchell and Dan Able of the St. Austell/London-located indie garage-rock band The Velvet Hands tackle head-on the nasty habits that we just can’t seem to break on their caffeinated new single and video for “Habit”. The rousingly addictive song was digitally released via Jam X Recordings in early March and was recorded, produced, and mixed by Ben Woods. Mitchell and Able had previously delivered a pair of rollicking indie rock singles, “Who Cares” and “Games”, and now the duo (along with added band members Louis Willbourne and Sean Nichols) continue their winning streak with “Habit”.
The melodically infectious “Habit” is hard to break away from as it attracts the ears with its spirited punk attitude, antic, gritty guitar hooks, jittery drum rhythms, and sing-song vocal exclamations. Mitchell and Able casually, but roughly toss off their lines in tandem, manically shouting on the lively, catchy chorus “It’s becoming a habit / …you just panic…”
The video is totally in tune with the song, both in its fast-paced, choppy editing and the visualization of “Habit”’s theme. Whether it takes the form of snacking, quaffing sodas, smoking cigs, popping pills (Pastel colored candies, not drugs, but is there really any difference?!), or staring at the telly, The Velvet Hands and friends have the customary cravings covered in the awesome video directed by Mawgan at http://purpleknif.co.uk/.
The video centers on Mitchell, Able, and their two cohorts who spend an everyday day zoning out on the couch in front of the TV, munching on chips and chocolate bars, puffing on cigarettes, and scanning the gossip rags. But suddenly before their glazed eyes and dazed brains appears a figure in a suit wearing a crazy-looking rabbit mask and chomping on a carrot Bugs Bunny-style. Each couch potato gets ‘baked’, so to speak, standing up and shaking frenetically before falling to the floor in a comatose state, only to be dragged away... And that’s all folks!