Of Limbo put the pedal to the metal with their hard-driving, headbanging new single and video Let’s Go — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
Fuelled by a groovy guitar riff hailing straight from the stoner-rock desert, a stop-start arrangement with more twists and turns than a sack of pretzels, and a lung-busting chorus that’s every bit as urgent and insistent as a frat boy rading to the bar before last call, Let’s Go is 2:22 of high-octane lunacy that blasts off the line like a nitro-burning funny car and never looks back.
“The song started with the riff and everything just fell into place around that,” singer-guitarist Jack Davies, lead guitarist Luke Davies and bassist Rob Gravely say in a press release. “Let’s Go just felt like the right sentiment for the energy of that riff. Then lyrically it’s, “What is a song called Let’s Go about? It’s about saying ‘Fuck It’ and leaping before you look, rather than waiting around for this or that excuse you have created for your inaction. The safe option is always to stay with what you know. But getting out of your comfort zone — even if it’s scary or harder at first — is ultimately much more rewarding. Just go for it and make shit happen!”
That philosophy applies to the power trio’s hilarious video, which depicts them rockin’ down the highway in their own Hyundai, hanging out the windows and doors and soloing on the roof as they go. Shot at Baur Films Studio in Long Beach, the Wayne’s World-on-steroids clip was directed by Tony Vercelli.
“Luke came up with the initial idea to shoot a video in what we call the ‘Metallicar,’ our beat-up 2013 Hyundai hatchback that we use to fart us across Long Beach when we aren’t touring,” they say. “We were just going to put a 360° videocam up in the middle of the car and decided to just drive around being crazy. From there, the idea took on a life of its own and Jake made an animatic/storyboard that took it to another level.
“When we realized how much cooler hanging upside-down and riding on the roof and shit like that would be, we knew the only option would be to shoot it on green screen. Our friend Juan and his son from Arts Break Service, who tend to our tour van’s mechanical needs, came down to the studio and jacked the car up so we could simulate the wheels spinning and overall supervise that we weren’t gonna do anything stupid … Well, anything too stupid! We knew it wasn’t going to end up looking like some Disney/Marvel-quality shit. But that almost gives it more charm, honestly. Makes it feel like a vintage B-grade movie from the golden era of American cinema.”
Brothers Jake and Luke Davies know from vintage. They were raised in Melbourne, Australia on a steady diet of good old rock ’n’ roll. Jake says: “I first put a guitar in Luke’s hands when he was 10. I taught him the nylon-string acoustic intro to Unforgiven by Metallica, from there he was hooked!”
Although they loved their homeland, the brothers were drawn to the U.S. when Luke was accepted to the Berklee School of Music in Boston. Jake relocated to Long Beach and started playing in bands. Soon, Jake invited Luke to spend a school break in Southern California. “Every night turned into us partying and writing music,” Jake recalls. “We couldn’t record it on our phones fast enough — It was just pouring out of us! We knew Luke needed to drop out of Berkelee and move in with me permanently in Long Beach to do this together for the rest of our lives.” As they toured the U.S., they found “sweat-soaked wildebeest” bassist Gravely deep in the Colorado Rockies, and the current lineup of Of Limbo was born.
As for the genesis of the band name, Jake explains: “One night after heavy drinking at the bar, Luke was struggling. I asked him, ‘how you doing over there, Luke’? He said ‘I don’t know man … I’m a little left of limbo’ and it jumped out at us as a band name. Of Limbo has a mystery to it … It’s a bit weird and we definitely have to say the name twice when people ask. But hey. what’s Pearl Jam? Eventually the name just becomes the band identity of the band — not the definition of the words.”
It matches their refreshingly unique hard-rock sound, which doesn’t just follow current trends. “We absolutely strive to not repeat ourselves and create as many different colors as possible,” Jake says. “As far as influences. Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Rage Against The Machine are all at the top. As far as how diverse the sound is, Faith No More is a band who I really respect for their ability to do this too.”
They have toured with the likes of Blue Öyster Cult, Wolfmother, Hinder, Candlebox, Buckcherry and Joyous Wolf, delivering high-energy performances that create an electric atmosphere. “Performance-wise, for us, it’s always been about making a rock show a party again” says Jake. “I can’t tell you how many shows I’ve been to where the people just stand there like zombies that have been herded into a room to just stare at the meat on stage and robotically clap when a song ends.
“You know the craziest thing about it? All it takes is like two people at the front to start losing themselves, dancing and having a good time to break people out of this weird self-conscious trance. It’s as if it sweeps across the rest of the crowd like an electrical current shocking them all back to life and everyone has so much more fun after that. If you want a passive, one-sided entertainment experience, go to a movie.”
Better yet, watch the video for Let’s Go above, listen to it on your favourite streaming service HERE, sample more sounds from Of Limbo below, and get down with them at their website, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
