“We added a pretty rad breakdown and some chanting to make it a fun, Canadian punk rock anthem,” says pop-punk skate-rockers Moore Ave Underground of their new single, “Beanies and Plaid Jackets” — available now.
Intriguing, yes.
But let’s back it up a bit.
First, let’s establish that Moore Ave Underground is made up of Josh, Joseph and Jack Gaudette and Shawn MacDonald.
Then, let’s parse its concept, which is fluid-Ish.
“Moore Ave Underground refers to our family home’s basement,” Josh says. “When I took up music, the basement was already filled with a foosball table, a hockey table, and a bar that no one ever used. We convinced my mom and dad to make some hard choices, and ended up bidding a fond farewell to it all in order to make room for instruments.”
“It became something special,” he continues. “Soon, friends, family and contributors started coming and going and creating. We have witnessed those who never believed their musical ability was possible grow into accomplished performers.
“Today, this is the goal: to provide a platform for talent, and encourage, inspire and see artists of any kinds and all ages realize their potential. For us, the motivation is to offer a window to the world that shows the talents and gifts we are blessed to see and be a part of every day.”
What that ultimately looks like is a lengthy series of single releases — including 2020’s “How You’ve Grown” and “What’s Done” — and a debut EP, 2019’s It’s All in my Head; this month brings us back to that Canadian pop-punk anthem of note, “Beanies and Plaid Jackets.”
“This is actually one of our older tunes,” Josh says. “It was a brainchild of an old band member that was sparked by a joke. The lyrics and ideas he brought to us were hilarious, but we couldn’t find a way to work them into a song. Then, one day we were doing some writing and decided to throw them over some cheesy chords and it was like electricity.
“Words started coming out like wildfire and we were laughing our butts off writing these lyrics about high school stereotypes and joking about clichés.”
“When we were at Beach Road Studios recording this tune, we had a wild time,” Jack says. “Josh lost his voice, there was seemingly a world-ending snow and ice storm outside and, on the final day, we woke up to an emergency alert about a nuclear plant in the area!
“When it came time to record the video, we were all blown away by the mix,” Joseph adds. “Given everything that went on during the recording process, we NEEDED the video to be just as incredible.”
“We came up with this idea to have a ‘Plaid Messiah’ going around, converting potential followers to the ‘way of the plaid,’” Shawn — who also worked his creative magic on the video — shares. “We rounded up our crew, which consisted of close friends and family, and created this rad video that pokes fun at some stereotypes in style and fashion, as well as a controversial event here in our small town.”
Wait.
‘Controversial event’??!?
To see what that means, “Beanies and Plaid Jackets” is available now.
