The sped up footage of people passing by an arcade in black and white for the video of AAA Gripper’s “The Arcade Claw King” is the perfect visual representation of a song about being a working class person in the consumer culture rat race most people living under Western capitalism exist within as if it’s a genuine choice of “lifestyle.” The jagged, clashing chords and nearly spoken word lyrics reminiscent of the delivery style of both Sleaford Mods and IDLES. And with a similar political orientation. But this song feels more discordant than either but with a similar edge. The title of the song brings to mind the machine that is emblematic of the whole neoliberal shebang/scam where you pay to feel like a winner like you’ve actually accomplished something if you do happen to be able to dislodge a prize from a game that’s rigged for someone to succeed with a skill set that doesn’t reflect their lived experience and talents, rather your energies and attention are channeled into an incredibly narrow range of activity and the best prizes need someone to dislodge those less exciting but it’s all a pile of junk in the end but the thought of attaining one of these trinkets feels like it means something in the moment. The song sounds like that desperation and conscious realization that most of what’s asked of us everyday is a load of shite and a distraction from how society is set up to funnel all goods and the fruits of label are channeled to the top and often not to a human but an organization that is “owned” by people largely detached from how that wealth is created on every level. The song is just one part of a fantastic album full of incisive commentary about life in the world we live in today mixing post-punk angularity with a composer’s sense of atmosphere but implemented to augment a sense of unease and hanging catharsis that does burst into flares of release now and then but not so much that you feel like you’re being pandered to by someone who is going to lie to you and tell you it’s all going to be okay if you just play along with being exploited like a good proletarian. Watch the video for “The Arcade Claw King” on YouTube and follow AAA Gripper from ‘round about Glastonbury, UK at the links below. The band’s album We Invented Work For The Common Good came out on May 16, 2025 via Wrong Speed Records on the 12” LP format and the usual digital versions.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
You must be logged in to post a comment.