Previous Industries is the hip-hop trio featuring Open Mike Eagle alongside regular collaborators Still Rift and Video Dave who shared their debut singles “Showbiz” and “Braids” back in January. They’ve now announced the details of their debut album Service Merchandise, arriving on June 28 through Merge.
Along with the announcement they’ve shared a new single and video called “Pliers”, with Mike explaining:
“This is a song about tension, pressure and using our tools. It’s about the pressure of being middle-aged in rap, the pressure of sharing oneself in relationships and a high stack of yesterdays about to topple into tomorrow. It’s the sound of the fight to take a deep breath.”
That collision of being middle aged and maintaining a rap career has been a rich vein for Mike since at least Anime, Trauma and Divorce, but he keeps finding new angles and approaches to draw out that smart and sardonic juice that we all love. Over a dusty soul sample, “Pliers” finds him in a mental vice grip, searching out Nickelodeon clips to relive the past and relieve some stress. Still Rift presents a more deranged, on-the-edge view of his mental health in his verse; “my vices love it when I grip them and I know because they hold me back / tactless but tactical.” Video Dave smoothly shrugs at his fate as a “ship with no anchor”, working hard for little, and his finality lets “Pliers” sail off into acceptance of the less-than-ideal life circumstances the three find themselves in.
The video for “Pliers” is an shot-for-shot remake of the “show me the way to go home” scene from Jaws, created by Crankbunny. Watch it below or find the song on streamers.
Previous Industries’ debut album Service Merchandise arrives on June 28 through Merge (pre-order/save). You can find the group on Twitter and Instagram.
Tour dates:
22nd July | Nashville, TN – The Basement
23rd July | Atlanta, GA – 529
26th July | Washington, D.C – SonGbyrd
27th July | Philadelphia, PA – Milkboy
28th July | New York, NY – Elsewhere (Zone One)
29th July | Boston, MA – Sinclair
30th July | Hamden, CT – Space Ballroom
2nd Aug | Dallas, TX – Ruins
3rd Aug | Austin, TX – Ballroom (Inside)
27th Sept | Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry
28th Sept | Chicago, IL – Schuba’s
29th Sept | Columbus, OH – A&R Music Bar
1st Oct | Seattle, WA – Barboza
2nd Oct | Portland, OR – Hawthorne
4th Oct | San Francisco, CA – Neck of the Woods
5th Oct | Los Angeles, CA – Lodge Room
