Exclusive video premiere of ‘Open Heart’ by Chicago post-punk band Aweful, taken from their upcoming self-titled album, out via What’s For Breakfast? Records.

“We were so excited to have had the chance to work again with the amazing team from our ‘I Never Knew’ music video to bring the whole idea together. Any day with music and a couple pints of fake blood is a great day, although it was a little scary having my bandmates use real surgical tools on me. The shoot had a lot of DIY spirit but it looks like it’s out of the era of high production value videos” says lead singer and bassist, Traci Trouble.

‘AWEFUL’ will be the first full-length album by Aweful and is being released with a leadup of several video singles all produced and recorded by local Chicagoland videographers. The previous video single, ‘New Moon,’ directed by Patrick Houdek and edited by Traci, is available on the band’s YouTube Channel. The album is both moody and urgent, and was written and recorded almost entirely during the height of the pandemic.

‘Open Heart’ is the second of AWEFUL’s singles and the video was produced by Sheriff Scabs and Lucy Dekay, directed by John Weaver, and shot and edited by John Rogers III. The song features some big pop ballad elements, but twists the genre a bit with dark double meanings. Lyrically, Traci often explores the intricacies of the double-edged swords of relationships and this song is no different.

“This song was actually written a long time ago when I was living in Portland, OR and playing bass in the band ADD-X, which was more of an experimental rock band. I came up with this idea during a break at one of our practices and it stayed dormant on a cassette tape for several years until last year when my bandmate Sheri Deitrich sent it to me out of the blue. I thought this would be a perfect song for Aweful,” says Traci. “It touched my heart and it’s my fav song on the album!” adds Lucy.

Behind Traci and Lucy is Izzy Price on drums, who locks in a persistent groove through the verses but isn’t shy about pumping up the chorus. All three band members are scene veterans with multiple bands and releases behind them, including Hotlips Messiah, Mystery Actions, The Wanton Looks, Youth Dekay, Velcro Lewis Group, and more. ‘Open Heart’ and the other tracks for ‘AWEFUL’ were all recorded and produced at Altered States by Brian Fox.

The music video was filmed in Chicago by John Rogers III and is reminiscent of the big rock videos of the 80s and 90s. “Open Heart has been my favorite song among Aweful’s recent live sets, so I was thrilled when asked to work on the video for it. Every time I’d see them play it at their shows, that song would haunt me for days, unable to escape my mind’s ear. So I wanted to create a visual component that would have as much of a lasting effect on the viewer as the song itself. Lucy and I had a hive mind with the white on white with splashes of red, for the color concept. Bright sensations of dread, against a pristine sterile backdrop- it just seems unnerving to me. But what really crosses the boundary to make this video more dramatic than horrific, and it IS horrific, is the acting of the band members. You can see the emotion is real, something our director John Weaver really brought out of them while shooting. These three truly care about each other. And even though it’s framed in a fictional Operating Room setting, that true to life love, as well as the hypothetical pain, is genuinely captured here.” -Sheriff Scabs

Aweful’s sound recalls the 80s lush post-punk of Siouxsie and the Banshees, the 90s guitar snarl of Veruca Salt, and the contemporary urgency of a band like Wet Leg. Their live set exists somewhere else, in a world where every local band gig looks like the Crucial Taunt set in Wayne’s World or the William Friedkin episode of Tales From the Crypt—bigger than real life, totally transfixing, life-changing. A low slung bass, a glittered guitar, and a smattering of tattoos are all ingredients you’ve seen before but like good cooking, it’s in the application. In a world with fewer and fewer mysteries, magic is still possible onstage, and Aweful are more than capable of spellcasting. With the release of ‘AWEFUL,’ Aweful intends to get in front of more audiences, tour and play festivals, and draw more unsuspecting fans into their web.

Aweful will be performing next at Reggies on March 24th with Bat Hearse (Detroit) and Royal Son Of A Guns.

Aweful Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp / YouTube
What’s For Breakfast? Records Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Bandcamp