NYC Scene Report – Atomic Life, Jessie Wagner, & The Ritualists

This week’s NYC Scene Report features Atomic Life combining rock and disco for “Strippers Anonymous,” Jessie Wagner feeling “Up Against The Wall,” and The Ritualists with a song for those who claim to know better.

* Get ready to break out your best dance moves, because Long Island-based rockers Atomic Life have released a video for their disco-rock song “Strippers Anonymous.”

A huge crowd favorite at shows, “Strippers Anonymous” has been part of the band’s set for a while, so it’s great it’s finally received an official release.

When I asked frontwoman Adea Frances if there might be more disco-rock in the band’s future, she said, “I haven’t heard the term disco-rock applied to our band yet, but I ABSOLUTELY love it. We definitely have more of everything coming down the pipeline.”

When it comes to the black and white video, and each member of the band having one very specific job in the clip, she said, “This was a very spontaneous idea to shoot the video like this, I think it started with Billy (Rymer) just wanting to play tambourine, and we all just went with it.”

Atomic Life will be on tour from March 19th through the 29th, hitting cities in the U.S. and Canada, and as someone whose seen them live multiple times, trust me when I tell you they’re a must-see band. Click play on the video, and hear why.

* Having written about powerhouse vocalist Jessie Wagner for the past half decade, I’ve been convinced for quite some time that she can legitimately do it all. I mean, how else would you describe a singer who is not only a solo artist, but also has a rock band, and sings back up for everyone from Chic to Lenny Kravitz?

Wagner’s latest single, “Up Against The Wall,” might be her best yet. A mixture of blues, and classic soul, there are some fantastic Bonnie Raitt vibes with this one.

Discussing the inspiration for song in a statement, Wagner wrote, “Have you ever had a delicious moment playing over and over in your mind? ‘Up Against The Wall’ is all about that feeling when you can't stop thinking about that one time.”

Thankfully, you can play the delicious moment that’s “Up Against The Wall” over and over again.

The song is from her upcoming album, War Within, which is due out April 25th via Wicked Cool Records, and you can check out the video for it right here.

* The Ritualists have a new album on the way titled Too Pure to Cure, due out April 22nd via Suite484Music, and the latest single from the project is the standout “You Know Better.”

With frontman Christian Dryden’s trademark powerful vocals, and a wonderful driving rock beat that’s reminiscent of ‘80s greats like Duran Duran, the song is a critique on fanaticism, specifically the kind that stems from the misinterpretation and misuse of the overload of information we’re confronted with on a daily basis.

We all know these types of fanatics, they’re the people who’ve decided they’re 100% right about everything, and confirmation bias is their best friend. It’s the kind of fanaticism that used to be reserved for religious zealots, but has unfortunately seeped into almost every aspect of life, from politics, to musician fan bases (don’t believe me on the latter? Say something even remotely critical about Taylor Swift, or Beyonce, and then get back to me after you’ve reemerged from the bunker you’ll have been forced into to avoid the deluge of attacks).

Since this is The Ritualists we’re talking about, “You Know Better” is poetic rather than preachy. A song you’ll want to dance, and sing along to, you may even feel inspired to belt out some of the lyrics when you see people who don’t realize it’s about them.

Click play on the video, and for more on The Ritualists, check out the Stacking The Deck interview I did with Christian back in December.

For more of the best of NYC’s indie music scene, come back next Wednesday, and check out the archives for previous columns.