LJ & The Sleeze have a new video out, ‘Ain’t Easy Bein Sleezy’. It’s a short film directed by King Z featuring three LJ & The Sleeze songs: ‘Cocaine’, ‘Ain’t Easy Bein Sleezy’, and ‘I’m Bad’. Partying until death. Will LJ get away with it?

Oozing their way across the nation, LJ & The Sleeze had small beginnings in a Richmond, VA basement. Fronted by songwriter Max Gottesman and backed by Eli Gray (lead guitar), Gray Stephenson (rhythm guitar), Caroline Hill (bass), and Ben Rosenstock (drums) LJ & The Sleeze is heavily influenced by New York and LA music out of the 70s and 80s.

Together the punk rock outfit put out their debut LP ‘Keepin’ It Sleezy’, followed it with the 7” ‘Put Something Sleezy Between Your Legs’, and they released ‘Stay Sleezy’ in February

Moving into the film and music video spaces, LJ & The Sleeze just released ‘Ain’t Easy Bein Sleezy’: A short film directed by King Z featuring three LJ & The Sleeze songs: ‘Cocaine’, ‘Ain’t Easy Bein Sleezy’, and ‘I’m Bad’. In the film our antihero–drug dealer LJ–gets an invitation to a drug sex party. Casual stuff. They do just…so much cocaine. A couple of bong rips.

One thing leads to another and a friendly game of Russian Roulette goes the way it sometimes does and LJ is hopelessly performing CPR on a DD that’s just shot herself in the head. Well her friends show up wearing the most radical belts ever and poor LJ is in a fuckin’ pickle. There’s a standoff. A mysterious stranger. It’s a hell of a ride

The selected tracks are a perfect soundtrack to the smut on screen. Gottesman sneers the lyrics ‘Cocaine’ during LJ’s cocaine-fueled hangout with DD. ‘Ain’t Easy Bein Sleezy’ is delivered with a mean mug as we meet Jesse’s gang. It’s got a real chin-out Stooges feel with a dirty punk rock solo. ‘I’m Bad’ is a killer fight song. With lyrics like /I’m bad/ Baby I’m bad/ Like the worst you ever had/ help you remember that all this punk bravado is delivered with fun and hilarity in mind.

Tongue ever in cheek, the Sleeze manages to be totally badass and totally self-satirical. It’s a parody entertaining in its sheer smutty flamboyance, yet backed up by the band’s musical chops. They are the John Waters of modern punk rock. Reveling in smut. Laughing at themselves and the world through a lens of over-the-top violence and bisexual lighting.

“The John Waters of modern punk rock”

LJ & The Sleeze. Did the music inspire the persona or did the persona inspire the music?

I think it was a little bit of both. I had the name already, and I just wanted to make music in the same vein of early Beastie Boys and FIDLAR.
What are some of your other influences, musical or otherwise?

Beastie Boys, GG Allin, FIDLAR, AC/DC for music and really just C films. Shit comedy that looks like it could be on Mystery Science Theater 3000.

‘Ain’t Easy Bein Sleezy’ is a lot of fun. Where did the story come from?

I wanted to put out a short film scored by LJ after watching ‘Lemonade’ by Beyonce or ‘Downfalls High’ by Machine Gun Kelly. I pulled in director King Z and we began working. We wanted a feeling similar to Troma and Quinten Tarantino. I had a general idea and he filled in the gaps.

<a href="https://ljsleeze.bandcamp.com/track/aint-easy-bein-sleezy">Ain’t Easy Bein’ Sleezy by LJ & the Sleeze</a>

What was the filmmaking process like?

We spent two days filming between three locations and a live show. Lots of GO GO GO, safety precautions and demos (we had a safety coordinator on set, wrestler Timmy Danger), and making sure everything was done perfectly.