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May 24, 2019 By Christopher Roberts Black Mountain

Black Mountain have released a new album, Destroyer, today via Jagjaguwar. Now they have shared a music video for the album’s “Licensed to Drive.” Zev Deans directed the clip, which is inspired by 1970s and 1980s video games (with perhaps a nod to Mad Max Fury Road as well). Watch it below. Also, now that the album is out, you can stream the whole thing below too. Also below are their upcoming tour dates.

Deans had this to say about the video in a press release: “‘Licensed to Drive’ is a deep dive into the soul of a late 1970s living room, an exploration of the deep psychedelic fantasy at the core of the birth of the video game.”

Previously Black Mountain shared Destroyer‘s first single, “Future Shade.” Then they shared another song from it, the over six-minute long “Boogie Lover.” Then they shared another song from the album, “Licensed to Drive.”

Frontman Stephen McBean conceived the album in the wake of finally getting a driver’s license for the first time two years ago. The album features longtime member Jeremy Schmidt, alongside new members Rachel Fannan (Sleepy Sun), and Adam Bulgasem (Dommengang & Soft Kill), as well as previous collaborators Kliph Scurlock (The Flaming Lips), Kid Millions (Oneida), and John Congleton (St. Vincent, Swans).

McBean had this to say about “Licensed to Drive” in a previous press release: “A riff in A flat and some Neu / Nugent / Newman Motorik hustle. Was the vacation better than the journey or did the drive etch itself into your soul? I’d like to thank the DMV for the inspiration.”

A previous press release described the album this way: “Destroyer, named after the discontinued single-run 1985 Dodge Destroyer muscle car, is structured around the feeling of driving a hot rod. The album exists in the middle of the early-to-mid 80s Los Angeles war between punk and hair metal - it’s exhilarating, spirited, and dangerous. Throughout, youthful themes run rampant: ‘Boogie Lover’ cruises down the Sunset Strip, ‘Horns Arising’ is a fill-up at a desert gas station just in time to see a UFO hovering near a mesa, and ‘High Rise’ rounds out a sense of teenage discovery.”

The album is the band’s fifth, the follow-up to 2016’s IV.

Black Mountain Tour Dates:

Fri. May 25 - Tucson, AZ @ 191 Toole

Sat. May 26 - Pioneertown, CA @ Stoned and Dusted
Sun. Aug. 11 - Bagnes, CH @ Palp Festival
Fri. Aug. 16 - Las Vegas, NV @ Psycho Las Vegas

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