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Nov 23, 2022 By Caleb Campbell

Last year, Lizard Music, the New Jersey rock quartet from Mikael Jorgensen, Chris Apple, Craig Smith, and Erik Paparozzi, returned with their first album in 25 years, Arizone! The band first got their start in the indie underground of the ‘90s, slotting into the world of surreal and off-kilter indie pop with their first two LPs. Since then, the band went their separate ways, with Jorgensen joining Wilco, Paparozzi joining Cat Power, and Apple playing with Badfinger.

After years of working on their individual projects, the band joined back up over the pandemic, working on new music as an escape from the realities of life under lockdown. The band worked virtually, writing Arizone! over the year, with the full album arriving in late 2021. Today, the band are back with an accompanying video for one of the record’s highlights, “Keystone Cops,” premiering with Under the Radar.

“Keystone Cops” leans into the band’s penchant for soaring pop arrangements, marrying dreamy harmonies with a driving drumbeat and a pounding climax. The band captures the drama and scale of a great pop song, but they also offer their own playful approach to melody and arrangement that leaves the song feeling reminiscent of their ‘90s indie rock heyday. Meanwhile, the accompanying video is a lighthearted accompaniment to the track, starring actor Lonny Ross from 30 Rock and Robert Carradine of Revenge Of The Nerds.

As Jorgensen describes, “‘Keystone Cops’ was the song that brought these four old friends - Lizard Music - back from the brink of despair during the apocalyptic summer of 2020. This ode to rigged systems needed a video, so we contacted our pal Lonny Ross to create one. Enter Torque Brigante (Ross), lover of his own voice, coffee shop braggart, and terrible date.”

Ross says of the video, “The goal was to make an entertaining video, compliment the song, and encourage people to listen to the entire album - because it’s great. And I’m not just saying that because the band is currently hunched down over my shoulders watching me write this.”

Check out the song and video below. Arizone! is out everywhere now via Omnivore Recordings.