I used to watch a lot of public access television, and so I have a fondness for Tower Defense’s music video for their new single, “Stop, I Think I’ve Heard This One Before”. Masking as a montage of clips from a fake program called Showcase of the Stars, the video shows the band performing their song along with bits and talents from other quirky performers. If you know public access TV, you know you can tune in and see random folks from your neighborhood singing, juggling, doing interpretive dance or magic tricks, or otherwise using their air time to act strange.
But the public access bit acts as a facade for the song’s deeper meaning. Written in the wake of the latest American election, Tower Defense leaned on their bass-heavy post-punk style to write a track about the dangers of media misinformation, losing friends and family members to propaganda, and repeated baseless attacks that divide us in order to maintain the unequal status quo. The folks getting sucked into the cable news circus don’t know it’s all for show, but Tower Defense still ask: “Is it possible that you have been misled? / It’s hard to say / Are you okay?”
Tower Defense are Jereme Frey (drums/vox), Currey May (guitar/vox), Mike Shepherd (piccolo bass/vox), and Sarah Lee Shepherd (bass/vox). They’ve made heavy and poignant punk music in the Nashville area since 2013, crafting punchy songs that make pointed remarks about society today. They sing of commodification and enshittification through metaphors such as parking lots, streaming royalties, and – in the case of their new single – public access TV. But through all of their music runs a string of empathy: Even if the beat and bass and vocals have an angry tinge, Tower Defense wants their music to heal. Sometimes it takes a little extra shock to the system to start that process.
In short, their new single says: Don’t let yourself get caught up in lies. Don’t forget that it’s all for show. The ventriloquist on Channel 10 is more educational and informational than the tripe the oligarchs are selling you, because at least you can see the hand controlling the puppet.
Take a look at the music video for “Stop, I Think I’ve Heard This One Before” below, and let us know who your favorite performer was (besides the band, of course.) Frankly, I like the guy playing the piano and wearing the fez.
Written by Will Sisskind
