Family Video wants you to dance like the world is ending.
The Charlotte, NC-based five piece fuses vintage synths, four-on-the-floor drum machine grooves and fuzzed out, angular guitars to craft indie pop songs that conjure up the likes of Echo and the Bunnymen, Depeche Mode, and LCD Soundsystem. Anchored by frontman Josh Shabtai’s manic stage presence and darkly tinged lyrics, the band evokes the decadence and daring of a musical era gone by.
An NYC transplant (formerly of art rockers Controller), Shabtai moved to Charlotte with a batch of songs and hunger to get them out into the world. He recorded Family Video’s debut LP, Shades, with producer Danny Kalb (Ben Harper/Beck/DREAMERS) at White Star Sound outside of Charlottesville, VA. Shades is an 8-song collection that introduces listeners to the sound that Alt77 calls “dance music for public riots.