From Sea to Shining Sea: Daughn Gibson - "Kissin' On The Blacktop" (Sub Pop)

Daughn Gibson and director Jeremiah Rouse have essentially managed to flip the whole concept of the flashy modern-day "music video" on it's head, stripping it back down to it's primal elements: grandiose sound and tasteful film flourishes. A former Hardcore Punk drummer (Pearls & Brass) who notoriously moonlighted as a truck driver, Gibson's latest single, "Kissin' On The Blacktop" also seemingly duals as his first ever music video release. It's a gritty brew-N-smoke-soaked scene that works quite well with Daughn Gibson's Alt. Country/Americana hybrid sound. Surrounded by a cast of shady-looking, yet deeply interesting characters, Gibson successfully weaves a Bluesy tale about a booze-fueled romance with "Kissin' On The Blacktop" while at the fictitious "Twin Willows" watering hole; We're talkin' about toothless pool sharks, whiskey-drinking cowboys, a leopard-skinned gold digger, smokin' hot lesbians, etc!


Roughly 1/2-way through, we're treated to a ferocious [steel] guitar solo from either John Baizley (Baroness) or Jim Elkington (Brokeback), which adds a whole 'nother layer to the Blues-Country romper. After reading a batch of early Me Moan reviews, I've heard Daughn Gibson's grizzly growl of a voice compared to everything from Crash Test Dummies to "Merle Haggard in a Nine Inch Nails T-shirt," whatever that's even supposed to mean ha. While he released his first album on fellow Philly native and Pissed Jeans frontman Matt Korvette's home-grown White Denim imprint just last year, notorious Seattle Indie label Sub Pop proudly unleashed Me Moan last week, July 9th. Daughn Gibson is headed out on a respectable 28-date nation-wide tour with Hiss Golden Messenger, William Tyler, Ty Segall, Cairo Pythian, and The Young (on select dates), running from July 16-August 17th.