The Demon Beat releases new single

Shepherdstown, W. Va., rock trio The Demon Beat released their new single, "Teenage Wasteland," last week in the form of a colorful and somewhat tongue-in-cheek music video, further teasing the band’s soon-to-be released record, "Less is Less".

Known for their direct delivery and no-flack attitude, The Demon Beat embodies the energy and soul typically associated with rock music, resonating a sense of respect for the whole spectrum of the genre rather than exuding an arrogant outlook.

"Teenage Wasteland" fits right into the precedent the band has set. It’s a song sewn to a certain set of colors, and it’s not afraid to hit the air as it exits the speakers and travels to your ears. Yet, you could argue this a song from a more realized band: a sign that The Demon Beat are about to show us all how good they can actually be.

But if anything though, it's a good two-and-a-half minute song to blast on your walk to class in the morning. Which, you know, is a needed thing.

The title seems to act as both an allusion and undermining comment— it’s this ironic sentiment which band vocalist Adam Meisterhans says he "finds funny."

The opening lyrics ring "killing time, all the time," yet they work with, not against, the song’s fun, garage-like riff. The tone isn’t one of disgust or frustration but instead one of ease, acceptance and even enjoyment.

To the band, wasted days aren’t necessarily a bad thing, and in some cases you may actually end up with something productive because of it – like this song, for example.

"The original idea was written after a late night Internet and TV binge," Meisterhans said. "I Netflix’ed a whole British television series and then wrote that riff at around seven in the morning after staying up the whole night. That would have been last summer."

From there, the idea sat for a little while, but Meisterhans returned to it later that November and the finished track was finally recorded in Pittsburgh in December 2011.

Meisterhans describes his process as being primarily concerned with melody and aesthetics.

"I try and focus on melodic content and general aesthetic elements, such as vocal lines working within the guitars and syllabically falling in with everything else," Meisterhans said. "Then I just make sure that the general thematic shiz falls into the same general stream of consciousness."

For "Teenage Wasteland," the focus was pretty clear.

"It’s mostly about doing what you want to do because you want to see what you can do," Meisterhans said. "Like staying up all night watching British TV and then writing a rock riff, or touring with your two best friends and seeing how many Pizza Huts you can stop at between here and Texas."

The song’s music video, which features an array of color, spins, haze and pepperoni pizza, was shot back in January, the same day as The Demon Beat opened for Ty Segall at 123 Pleasant Street.

Meisterhans says the experience was an enjoyable one, largely due to the fun and professional direction of Geoff Hoskinson.

"Geoff Hoskinson rules. That’s really what you need to know, I suppose," Meisterhans said. "It only took a couple of hours, and Geoff did the editing really quickly. We just had to wait for the record to be done and other things to line up, so that we could put it out. It was really fun. We just tried to do funny stuff and then eat pizza. Maybe even some funny stuff with pizza. Whatever suits your fancy."

As for the new record, Meisterhans says he’s excited. To him, it’s an example of the band moving forward in its development.

"I think we took a really big step forward with this one," Meisterhans said. "Not really a step toward anything specific, but I feel like we’re more fully realizing our own capabilities as a group. I think you can expect a pretty concise rock record with some melodies and some fuzz. That’s what I think we were aiming for – fuzzy melody."

"Teenage Wasteland" can be streamed for free on The Demon Beat’s BandCamp page thedemonbeat.bandcamp.com. The band’s new album "Less is Less" will be released late September.