Stray From The Path Wheel Out Every Tired Anti-Capitalist Cliche In the Book for “Guillotine” Video
We’re actually really big fans of Stray From The Path, whose hardcore always brings considerable weight and impact (we also like that producer Will Putney says that frontman Drew York sounds like a kid who’s had his baseball cards taken away from him). But man, the band just released a video for their new track “Guillotine,” and boy does it just lean on a bunch of tired, predictable anti-capitalist imagery.
As a track, “Guillotine” ain’t bad — we like the band’s static accents and stomach-ache plummets. And even its message isn’t bad — fuck money, fuck people who use it to harm others. But the video itself is kind of embarrassing in its imagery. There’s a rich guy with the ponytail smelling cash, a man in a suit and a pig mask, a pig literally eating money, and hell, even someone with actual blood on their hands receiving a payout. It’s as though they searched for ‘Fat cats‘ on a stock photo website and then portrayed their results in a music video.
Because here’s the thing: the capitalists that Stray From The Path are furious at? In 2022, they probably look like Stray From The Path. They’re not wrinkled LA executives with rat-tails slamming gavels on tables, they’re young tattooed people turning software companies and food services into global brands that swallow up indie competitors. They drum along to Gojira in their spare time and have framed hardcore flyers in their offices. Even your average Bezos or Musk is a some weed-loving dreamer dating a chick with neon-colored hair. It’s just easy to fall back on early 2000s hardcore imagery rather than admit that your enemies might not look so different from you in this day and age.
Check out Stray From The Path’s “Guillotine” below, and catch them at one of their upcoming dates:
w/ Underoath, Spiritbox, and Bad Omens
02/23/2022 Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren *
02/24/2022 Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern *
02/25/2022 Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues *
02/26/2022 San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield *
02/28/2022 Seattle, WA @ Showbox SODO *
03/01/2022 Vancouver, BC @ The Vogue Theater *
03/02/2022 Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory *
03/04/2022 Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex *
03/05/2022 Denver, CO @ The Ogden Theatre *
03/07/2022 Minneapolis, MN @ The Fillmore *
03/08/2022 Chicago, IL @ Radius *
03/09/2022 Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore *
03/11/2022 Toronto, ON @ History *
03/12/2022 Cleveland, OH @ Agora *
03/13/2022 Wallingford, CT @ The Dome *
03/14/2022 Boston, MA @ House of Blues *
03/15/2022 Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE *
03/17/2022 Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel *
03/18/2022 Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore *
03/19/2022 Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore *
03/20/2022 Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom *
03/22/2022 Cincinnati, OH @ ICON *
03/23/2022 Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore *
03/25/2022 Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle *
03/26/2022 Tampa, FL @ Jannus Live *
w/ Beartooth and Motionless In White
03/09/2023 Frankfurt, DE @ Jahrhunderthalle ^
03/10/2023 Zurich, CH @ Volkhaus ^
03/11/2023 Luxembourg, LU @ Den Atelier ^
03/12/2023 Paris, FR @ Le Cabaret Sauvage ^
03/14/2023 Glasgow, UK @ Barrowlands ^
03/17/2023 Manchester, UK @ Victoria Warehouse ^
03/18/2023 Birmingham, UK @ Academy ^
03/19/2023 London, UK @ Brixton Academy ^
03/21/2023 Tilburg, NL @ 013 ^
03/23/2023 Cologne, DE @ Palladium ^
03/24/2023 Munich, DE @ Zenith ^
03/25/2023 Vienna, AT @ Gasometer ^
03/28/2023 Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique ^
03/29/2023 Stuttgart, DE @ Porsche Arena ^
03/30/2023 Hamburg, DE @ Sporthalle ^
03/31/2023 Leipzig, DE @ Hause Auensee ^
04/01/2023 Berlin, DE @ Columbiahalle ^
