New Orleans no-wave punks Special Interest are sharing an inspired cover of Amanda Lear’s “Follow Me” today. “Follow Me” is the b-side on a limited-edition 7” single for their song “(Herman’s) House”, which was released in May to widespread praise from outlets such as Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, NPR, FADER, BrooklynVegan, Stereogum, and NME. The 7” is inspired by the original Rough Trade 7”s released in the 1970s, and will be available in participating stores on July 29th, priced in-line with 1970s pricing at just 99¢.
“Follow Me” a-side “(Herman’s) House” is accompanied by a video directed by Special Interest and Juicebox Burton, co-founder of Studio Lalala alongside vocalist Alli Logout. The song is centered around the story of Herman Wallace, one of the Angola Three – three Black revolutionaries who were held for decades in solitary confinement while imprisoned at Louisiana State Penitentiary. During Wallace’s imprisonment, he became close with an artist, Jackie Sumell, and the two collaborated to create Wallace’s dream house, taking four years and hundreds of letters to design it.
Special Interest is a four piece punk band emerging from New Orleans, Louisiana. Combining elements of No-Wave, Glam and Industrial, they create a frenetic and urgent revisioning of punk and electronic music for a modern world gone mad. Propulsive analogue drum machines, a swirling layer of detuned samples, and driving bass lines create the foundation across which angular guitar work and dissonant synth lines glide. Front and center are Alli Logout’s (they/them) commanding vocals and razor sharp lyrics moving from high camp satire to insightful political imperatives, often within the course of one song. Special Interest initially formed in 2015 to play one show in a basement. Originally, they were a two piece with Alli Logout and Maria Elena (she/her) playing guitars and power tools over the beat of a 70s Univox drum machine. Soon after they ditched the power tools and were joined by Ruth Mascelli (he/him) on electronics and Nathan Cassiani (he/him) on bass. The band quickly gained a reputation for their intense and energetic live shows – a dense wall of sound oscillating from aggressive and noisy to joyous and danceable, punctuated by the no holds barred on stage persona of their vocalist.
