Premiere: High-Energy Swells on Street Joy's Lax "Do A Thing"

The progressive duo accomplish a whole lot for not wanting to do anything.

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We’ve all been there: stressed, burnt out, exhausted, done with everything. There comes a point in time where you just want to throw up your hands and scream “I don’t want to do anything!” You want to abscond from the world, curl up, and hide away. And that’s alright. It seems that Street Joy know this feeling a little better than most; on their brand new single “Do a Thing” the band somehow manages to convey a desire for the sedentary lifestyle through a buoyant, active, and melodious tune that plays multiple roles genre-wise.

I wanna do nothing
Don’t wanna do a thing

Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering the video for “Do A Thing,” the new single from Los Angeles-based duo Street Joy. Immediately invoking a tone that’s filled with punchy guitar licks and dance-y disco vibes, guitarist and lead vocalist Jason Demayo and drummer Scott Zimmerman don’t so much shuffle as bounce off the walls between light, experimental pop and rock ‘n’ roll. The song wonderfully juxtaposes high-energy sound with low-energy ambitions.

The video, directed by Playground, has a delightfully quirky whimsy about it. The band, plus a third man, appear on a couch in the middle of a desert as quite a few interesting characters dance around, record, and observe them. The band is then seen playing amid a sparse but attractive desert landscape, while the man wields a pair of binoculars and then himself observes the characters. The shot of all the characters atop the hill trailing along behind the man is an homage to the initial inspiration for the video.

I wanna do something
Don’t wanna do a thing
I said no need to be rushing
Don’t wanna do a thing

Do A Thing - Street Joy — Do A Thing – Street Joy

“[It] came from this huge desert scene painting by Jason’s dad that hangs in his apartment,” the band tells Atwood. “It features the silhouettes of several folks and camels walking single file in front of a vast sandy landscape… We latched on to the feeling we got from thinking about the seclusion and expansiveness of the desert, imagining ourselves as those tiny silhouettes with nothing to do but arrive at some destination.”

After what can only be described as a sudden descent into a bad trip, the man runs terrified through the desert, ostensibly seeking refuge. After being flanked by two joggers, he awakens and we find the original trio still on the couch but in the middle of a house party. The eclectic characters from before are back, but in a slightly more normal context. Scott and Jason are still asleep, as before, but the man is awake and once again transfixed by the personalities surrounding him. The last thing we see is the man observing Jason’s father’s painting before coughing up a mouthful of sand. Has he really, then, left the desert?

I don’t wanna do a thing
I don’t wanna go to the show
You’re not gonna see my face up on the street
No, no (yeah yeah yeah)

Being in the desert is allegorical to the loneliness and seclusion Jason and Scott talked about, so as the man coughs up the sand in the middle of a crowded party, does he feel isolated and alone? Thanks to the thoughtful work of Playground, it is up to the viewer to decide.

This is a sure sign of great things to come from this sincerely sonorous band. Give it a listen, and then give it a few more, exclusively on Atwood Magazine!

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