Video: Night Engine, “Seventeen”

February 04, 2013


Last October, I stopped by my local basement dive, the Sebright Arms, to check out Night Engine’s second ever live show. The London quartet sold out the venue, and standing shoulder-to-shoulder on the cramped stage, they sold the crowd on their taut, jittery, pressure-cooker art-pop. Last week, I met up with singer Phil, keyboardist Dom, bassist Ed and drummer Lee for my Dollars to Pounds column—to be published next Thursday—and to whet your appetite, here's the world premiere of their debut video, for their first single, “Seventeen." It's a popular age to immortalize in pop, but very much unlike Ladytron’s song of the same name, or Janis Ian’s “At Seventeen” not to mention Stevie Nicks’ take on the age, Night Engine’s tale is of “a 17-year-old killer who has grown up in a criminal environment from which he can’t really escape.” More on that, raging against condescension, Welsh popstrel Charlotte Church and the importance of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie next week.

From The Collection:

Dollars To Pounds
Video: Night Engine, “Seventeen”