“’Special’ is a kamikaze,” frontperson Kat Moss says
Scowl kick the absolute snot out of the Final Girl trope in their new video for “Special,” just in time for Spooky Season. “’Special’ is a kamikaze,” frontperson Kat Moss said in a statement. “The lyrics are about threatening the audience by asking, ‘What do you really want?’ in clear desperation to answer my own question, ‘What do I really want?’ But the answer is simple, I want to feel alive.”
“Special” marks the Bay Area hardcore band‘s first single with their new label Dead Oceans, and it’s a hell of an introduction. Produced by Grammy-nominated Will Yip (who also produced the band’s EP Psychic Dance Routine) and mixed by Rich Costey (Fiona Apple, Deftones, Vampire Weekend), the single sounds like if No Doubt turned demonic. And the accompanying video, directed by Silken Weinberg, is a total horror show. Literally.
The visual kicks off with the band playing a tour favorite, as the band previously recalled to Rolling Stone in our Future of Music issue. Take a die, roll it, and whoever gets a six can chuck it at the nearest band member. “There were dice flying everywhere!” frontperson Kat Moss told us. “It was the most obnoxious game,” added guitarist Mikey Bifolco. Then, things get… dicey (sorry). Moss draws a literal short straw, which apparently means she’s about to be sacrificed by the rest of the band, sporting very Purge-like animal masks. As such, she steps into the combat boots of the Final Girl (you know, the special virgin who survives every horror movie) and we’re off to the proverbial races.
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In addition to being named the Future of Music by this publication, Scowl have been on the up and up since they started releasing music in 2019. They’ve scored endorsements from the likes of Post Malone, an opening slot at Madison Square Garden supporting Limp Bizkit, and a nearly sold-out U.S. headline tour. Their last EP, the aforementioned Psychic Dance Routine, dropped in 2023 — and with this new single, they’re looking forward to a whole new chapter. It’s a chapter in which, it seems, they continue to flip the script.
