Wednesday‘s music is full of casual mayhem, especially in their latest album, 2021’s Twin Plagues. In “Cliff,” ashes are kept in a Dallas Cowboys urn; “Gary’s” begins with a screen door being ripped off its frame. Cigarettes and disillusion abound. Their forthcoming album Rat Saw God is sure to exist in a similarly chaotic world.
Following “Bull Believer” and “Chosen To Deserve” is “Bath County.” “I can walk on water / I can raise the dead,” Karly Hartzman begins the track singing. Quickly, it transforms into a whirlwind of twangy, heady indie rock emphasizing the seismic feeling of Hartzman’s hook: “Every daughter of God / Has a little bad luck sometimes.”
“This is a song I wrote on a porch in Bath County, Virginia when me and [lead guitarist] Jake [Lenderman] were visiting Jake’s moms hometown,” Hartzman explained in a statement. “It includes some imagery I saw on that trip as well as a description of a guy we saw overdosed in a parking lot early one morning on our way to Dollywood.”
About the video, Hartman added, “The video I made myself is an homage to PJ Harvey’s video for ‘Man-Size.’ I’ve never seen someone emit as much confidence as she does in that video. I wanted to pretend for a minute I possessed that attitude but it was harder than it looks! Endless respect for Peej.”
Listen to “Bath County” above.
Rat Saw God is out 4/7 via Dead Oceans. Pre-order it here.