Action/Adventure have released their new album ‘Imposter Syndrome’ via Pure Noise Records. To celebrate the release the band has released a new video for the title track.
Action/Adventure shouldn’t be here. At least, that’s what the Chicago-based five-piece seems to think. They’re wrong – very wrong – but that’s the overriding theme of their debut album. That’s partly why they named their forthcoming record ‘Imposter Syndrome’ – because when the band signed to Pure Noise Records, they couldn’t quite believe it.
“For us,” says lead vocalist Blake Evaristo, “having a debut on Pure Noise is insane. Especially because, when ‘Barricades’ blew up for us and we got all that TikTok clout, it happened during the pandemic, so we didn’t even play a show till nearly a year later. And I feel like, in that time, we were having Imposter Syndrome, hence the title.”
The band’s feeling of imposter syndrome runs deeper than just what we mentioned. Namely, because they’re an entirely BIPOC band in the pop punk scene, which automatically adds an extra layer of depth and uneasiness to everything. It’s what the TikTok video for ‘Barricades’ was all about, and it’s an inherent part of their identity. That video was never meant to blow up, nor was it meant to be overtly political. It simply captured how they felt about who they were and was uploaded by Jackson one day on a whim.
Still, Action/Adventure are acutely aware their existence is nevertheless important in terms of visibility. They’re just also keen to stress that their initial intentions were all music-focused, and that it’s chance, not design, that they’re all BIPOC. “Those two parts have to co-exist on completely even playing fields,” explains Jackson. “One can’t really outshine the other. Growing up in the scene, I almost felt like a pariah–I could count the amount of other black people going to shows on one hand. One of them is Adrian! You’d always see the same four or five other black people at shows, so you get to know each other. So it’s important to not lose sight of that, but also don’t want us to be a token band. We’re just a band. We’re a group of people playing music that we like to listen to and that we like to write–and we just all happen to be people of color. It was an accident, it wasn’t planned.”
One listen to this record, and that’s clear. It’s emotive and erudite, sophisticated and serious, fun but also full of the trials and tribulations, insecurities, and uncertainties that make us all human. All that is channeled into these 10 impassioned and precise, vigorous, and spirited songs. The fact that it hits so incisively and profoundly demonstrates why – even if they use the term with tongues firmly in cheek – pop punk for adults is the perfect description.
“This might be our first album, but we’ve all been through the wringer, and I hope people hear that we have real stuff that we’re dealing with – whether that’s being in a band, being a person of color in the scene or chasing a dream that seems so hard and unattainable. I really hope people can feel what we’re feeling,” says Evaristo.
‘Imposter Syndrome’ tracklist:
01. Imposter Syndrome
02. Save Yourself
03. Autopilot
04. 3818
05. Losing Streak
06. FNFB
07. Levity
08. Caroline Reaper
09. Frozone, True King in the North
10. Wanderlust
The band also spoke on the new song and said: “Our title track ‘Imposter Syndrome’ opens the record with a no holds barred barrage of riffs, breakdowns, and raspy vocals that establish the musical and lyrical tone of the next nine songs that proceed it. Under all that grit the song also has a jovial and fun mood that is prominent in its less than two-minute run time. We wanted to capture those feelings of hysteria in the video so it made sense to run with this and cross “Make an Animated Green Screen Music Video” off our list of things to do as a band. Taking inspiration from the collage-style album art I knew that a stop-motion style video would really fit the aesthetic. Some music videos that had huge influences on the style were A Day To Remember‘s ‘Right Back At It Again,’ The Early November‘s ‘Something That Produces Results,’ and New Found Glory‘s ‘All Downhill From Here,’ along with a catalog of other video game and movie favorites.”
“Shooting the video was a blast as we DIY set up a green screen in our already crowded practice space, pressed record, and gave it a whirl. Once all the assets were keyed out and animated the video from here was a blank canvas to see what does and doesn’t work. This part of the process mirrored the writing of the song as it really flexed the creative muscle in a way that felt like play instead of work. Brought me back to the days when you were just starting out making bad music/art with your friends but it didn’t matter cause you all had a blast doing it – except now we’re older, a little more experienced, but are still having a blast. Overall we’re super stoked how it came out and can’t wait to welcome our debut record with this video.”