Fans of dark synthwave, 90s anime, or a combination of the two should check this shit out. Last week, the ever-awesome Gunship released a new single and accompanying music video for the track “DooM Dance.” This time around, they’ve teamed up with Carpenter Brut and Bush’s Gavin Rossdale to fill out the track.
Anyone who’s ever heard a track by Gunship — or Carpenter Brut, for that matter — knows exactly what they’re getting into with this new track. “DooM Dance” is more about thumping bass and grimy synths than the djenty heavy metal guitars the track’s title would suggest you’d be getting. Still, it’s a bop, as the kids say these days.
According to the band, the song was inspired by the feeling you get while mowing down hordes of demons in DooM, hence the title.
As for the music video, it’s pretty NSFW so watch it at your own discretion. Gunship’s Dan Haigh said the video below was inspired by some of the more gritty 90s cyberpunk anime like Ghost In The Shell and Akira.
“Both CyberCity Oedo and Dominion Tank Police were pivotal influences on me growing up. To finally get hold of these mythic VHS tapes in the 90s, in the UK, featuring animation all the way from Japan, was like finding the rarest treasure. I think my small town had literally one copy of Cyber City which was bootlegged to near disintegration. To discover in an instant that animation could convey dark and atmospheric adult stories but also be such an amazing medium for bringing cutting-edge and controversial science fiction concepts to life, opened a gateway to anime love that I’ve kept ever since.
“This golden era of hand-drawn anime included many greats – Cyber City, Ghost In The Shell, Akira, Wicked City, Appleseed, Patlabor, Goku Midnight Eye, etc – which in my opinion significantly influenced a generation of Western directors and artists in a fantastic way. Gunship would not be the way it is without these memorable and thought-provoking works of art.”
You can check out this track on Gunship’s 2023 album Unicorn anywhere you get your music.