Doll Spirit Vessel try to outrun their old beliefs on “Train Brain Rot.” The single marks the first release from their debut, What Stays , out Aug. 12 via Disposable America. Mixed by Peter Geiser (Beartooth, Bennett, Chika), and mastered by Brandon Peralta (Flatbush Zombies, Oneohtrix Point Never, Kimbra), the album was self-recorded in a cabin near Crater Lake, Oregon.
An identity crisis disguised as inconspicuous indie rock, “Train Brain Rot” sees bandleader Kati Malison second-guessing some of her strongest convictions. Trying to resist the comfort of being defined, Malison pushes herself to reassess “the stories we tell ourselves about who we are and how little they serve us sometimes,” she says in a statement.
The band’s DIY ethos appears in the accompanying music video, co-produced by Malison and Jon Cox (Sadurn, Mother Moses). Malison sprints through the darkness in a sporty get-up as she tries to dodge the obstacles her friends hurl at her, downs a beer and deters her competition by throwing a few elbows. Even after cutting the finish line with what appears to be safety scissors, she doesn’t stop to catch her breath, but rather continues to run in never-ending circles.
“The concept for the video came out of quarantining with my friend Jon Cox while we both had covid (I gave it to him on his birthday). I wanted to have it visually convey the chaos and contradiction of inner life, what it’s like to be inside your own mind, forced to listen to all the thoughts on loop. It was a ton of planning, we even did a tour of all the middle schools in the area to find the perfect track that would be dark enough to make the spotlight look really stark against the background,” Malison said.
You can check out the video for “Train Brain Rot” below.
