Chopper – Queen City Sounds and Art

The video for the Chopper single “Living for the Night” shows gritty scenes from the night time with vocalist/songwriter Jonatan K. Magnussen sitting in a bathtub commenting on the conflicted acceptance of youthful nihilism. All while his other self travels the city at night smoking a cigarette in the back of a car and getting to a nightclub bathed in lurid lights and the kind of hedonistic fun one supposedly found at the legendary Manchester club The Hacienda in its heyday. But the song with its mélange of Madchester sleaze and what might be described as psychedelic darkwave glam juxtaposes that mood with the hyper-reality of modern desperation and malaise at what seems like a hopeless situation in the world and embracing getting in some enjoyment rather than be drug under by a despair that serves no one but those that benefit from the twenty-first century’s dystopian slide. Chopper leans into a different kind of spirited resistance even as the song uses a decadent aesthetic to shake off the doldrums. Watch the video for “Living for the Night” on YouTube and follow Danish post-punk/glam/avant-pop artist Chopper at the links below.

Chopper on Facebook

Chopper on Instagram

Chopper on Bandcamp

The video for “Springtime” by Chopper looks like it could have come out of the same time period as the first handful of Gregg Araki’s films and captured on an old, high quality VHS tape. Musically it’s like a more darkwave My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult song or something by Alien Sex Fiend. But more melodic, more glam rock, but with the same gloriously lurid aesthetic. The song has a lush quality that boils up and flares out dramatically that suits the sights and sense of adventure in the song with its blossoming flowers, fire, fireworks and night drive visuals and the darkly passionate and romantic sentiments of the lyrics. It’s the kind of song one hopes to hear at Goth nights around the world because it fits right in with the modern incarnation of that sort of thing without being defined by it. “Springtime” is the first single in Chopper’s forthcoming mini-album Shock Pop Vol. 1 which should release later in 2023. But for now you can watch the music video on YouTube and follow Chopper at the links below.