Viet Cong’s “Continental Shelf” Drops

VIET CONG PREMIERE VIDEO FOR “CONTINENTAL SHELF”

ANNOUNCE NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES

SELF TITLED DEBUT ALBUM OUT JANUARY 20TH

Viet Cong have released their new video for the track “Continental Shelf,” the first song from their self titled debut record out January 20th on Jagjaguwar. The video was premiered worldwide via Noisey today, who note that Viet Cong “match each squally, distorted guitar lick, and stomped out beat, with a ragged, larynx-shredded Pixies-like pop nous, and this is the perfect union of sound and vision.”

Uncanny and foreboding, “Continental Shelf” was shot by director Yoonha Park entirely on 16mm film. The director drew inspiration from a wide range of sources, directly referencing moments from classic horror films, arthouse cinema and the work of painter Michaël Borremans. About the video, Park says “I wanted the video to feel like a reel of film that was purchased accidentally at a garage sale or found buried under someone’s front porch. It’s meant to be an incomplete picture – like screen tests from a lost movie.” With liberal nods to film and art history, Park creates a pastiche of formal and unsettling vignettes that leaves an impression like the last lingering traces of a feverish dream.

“Continental Shelf” was recently awarded Best New Track by Pitchfork, who in their review of the song write, “This one has a strange weather about it: Dark and unwieldy, with stormy dissonance, gloom-drunk melodies, ghostly cheerleader coos, and the brief employment of the “Be My Baby” beat for good measure. Viet Cong still sound like a band being tugged in opposing directions, but here they control the discordance with confidence, transforming “Continental Shelf” into something disquietingly divine.”

Viet Cong are currently in Europe and playing a show tonight at Scala in London w/Ought. The band is also announcing a new tour across the US in March 2015; this follows a small run of North American album release dates in January and a European tour in February. All tour dates are listed below.

Upcoming Tour Dates /
11.19.14 – Scala – London, UK *
11.20.14 – AB Club – Brussels, BE *
11.21.14 – Le Guess Who? Festival – Utrecht, NL
11.22.14 – La Mécanique Ondulatoire – Paris, FR
01.28.15 – Union Pool – Brooklyn, NY **
01.29.15 – Mercury Lounge – New York, NY
01.30.15 – Bar Le Ritz PDB – Montreal, QC ^
01.31.15 – The Garrison – Toronto, ON
02.05.15 – Deaf Institute – Manchester, UK
02.06.15 – Broadcast – Glasgow, UK
02.07.15 – Brudenell Social – Leeds, UK
02.08.15 – Green Door Store – Brighton, UK
02.10.15 – Paradiso – Amsterdam, NL
02.11.15 – West Germany – Berlin, DE
02.12.15 – Loppen – Copenhagen, DK
02.13.15 – Pokalen – Oslo, NO
02.15.15 – Hafenklang – Hamburg, DE
02.16.15 – Rotown – Rotterdam, NL
02.17.15 – De Kreun – Kortrijk, BE
02.28.15 – Nite Owl – Calgary, AB
03.03.15 – Mississippi Studios – Portland, OR
03.05.15 – Rickshaw Stop – San Francisco, CA
03.06.15 – Echo – Los Angeles, CA
03.07.15 – Soda Bar – San Diego, CA
03.08.15 – Valley Bar – Phoenix, AZ
03.11.15 – Record Bar – Kansas City, MO
03.12.15 – 7th Street Entry – Minneapolis, MN
03.14.15 – Dionysus Club at Oberlin College – Oberlin, OH
03.24.15 – Larimer Lounge – Denver, CO
03.25.15 – Kilby Court – Salt Lake City, UT
03.27.15 – Barboza – Seattle, WA

* w/ Ought
** w/ Honey, PC Worship
^ w/ PC Worship, Unblonde