Author: WKNC Admin

If you’ve been following WKNC’s coverage of local artists then you’re no stranger to the name Thirsty Curses. This Raleigh rock band has been prominent on the scene since 2017 and has made quite a name for themselves rather quickly. They have received dazzling reviews from Yes! Weekly, Vents Magazine, and many more. These well-documented accolades can be found on the Thirsty Curses website. Among these reviews is a blog post from WKNC Assistant Daytime Music Director Safia Rizwan.

Safia’s review covered Thirsty Curses’ self-titled album which includes their top song, “Bruises on Your Shoulders,” for which a music video was released today. In it, the band performs as a young couple goes through several life changes (i.e. marriage, working and being fired from a corporate job, therapy, drinking problems), ultimately resulting in a failed marriage. The song discusses this concept, as frontman Wilson Getchell sings, “One day you wake up and you’re a completely different person. Same name, same face but it’s like someone else is doing the work.” Though the concept of the video follows the couple’s complicated personal lives, it’s a song to which almost anyone can relate. 

The music video itself is filmed in a single shot– think the style of early 2000s OK GO videos– and pivots between the band themselves performing or the silent reenactments of the actors playing the young couple. For accreditation purposes, the video was filmed and edited by Isaac Anderson at the Boykin Center in Wilson, N.C. (further production details can be found in the description of the video on YouTube). Anderson does a great job of keeping the audience’s attention, relying on feelings of nostalgia and familiarity to engage the viewers. The set, which was a simple construction mimicking that of an old children’s cartoon, was able to be moved and removed as the video was filmed– despite the fact that the entire thing was shot in one room. 

Ultimately, what I perceived as the greatest takeaway of this video was the timing of its release. As the Coronavirus pandemic continues, this same feeling of disassociation and shell shock from rapid changing events is captured by “Bruises on Your Shoulders.” It seems as though Getchell, without even knowing what kind of landscape we’d find ourselves in months later (as this song was written and released in 2019), was able to tune in to exactly what the population was feeling… and needed to hear.

You can connect with Thirsty Curses on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and their music is available on all streaming services. More information about the band can be found on their website, or through their previous Local Beat session podcast. 

– DJ Beowvlf