Gasoline Lollipops’ Clay Rose started writing “Humanity” during the pandemic—at a time when there were even more pressing concerns in the immediate vicinity. “I was living on top of a hill in East Boulder (Colo.), and we were flanked on both sides by raging wildfires,” he says. “More than 1,000 homes were lost in less than two days.”
At the time, Rose had two young kids to care for. “From where I sat, it looked like we were in the grips of an apocalypse,” says Rose. “On social media, everyone was either virtue signaling, fearmongering, finger-pointing or sending empty prayers. As lonely and disparaged as it all made me feel, I could relate to them all. How could I not be tempted by terror, self-righteousness or apathy in the face of such monumental chaos? I saw myself and others reaching for these anti-virtues like pacifiers, and they quickly became society’s drugs of choice. Maybe they always were.”
Colorado’s more eccentric, punk-minded answer to Old Crow Medicine Show and Turnpike Troubadours, the Gas Pops haven’t yet hit on the crossover success of either of those acts, but they thrive on a similar blend of honky tonk, Americana and country rock that’s served them well over the course of 15 years and six albums. For their latest self-released LP, Kill The Architect, the quintet brought in longtime Los Lobos member Steve Berlin as producer. Available June 13, the album also features appearances by Gregoy Alan Isakov and Fruition’s Mimi Naja.
Interestingly, the songs on Kill The Architect have their origins in Sam & Delilah, a redneck sendup of the biblical tale that Rose composed as a ballet for Denver dance company Wonderbound. Whether “Humanity” ever found its way into the narrative is anyone’s guess. But its video does tackle a familiar topic: society’s obsession with fame and materialism.
“I play a satirical game-show host, interviewing his own human conscience,” says Rose. “The host taunts and belittles the awakened critic, as he dances amid the sins of modern society. It culminates in the demise of the game-show host—presumably overdosed on his own mindless self-indulgence.”
We’re proud to premiere the Gas Pops’ “Humanity” video.
—Hobart Rowland
