We’ve got a treat for you today, a new video from punk duo Kamikaze Girls. ‘Ladyfuzz’ is taken from the bands forthcoming, debut EP ‘Sad’ which is a combination of their noisy, effervescent tendencies and their strong sense of principle.
Singer Lucinda Livingston writes about addiction, anxiety and depression with such raw honesty. Livingstone actually ended up using ‘Ladyfuzz’ as a metaphor for a period in her life when she suffered from severe mental health issues last year. The song itself is about reliving an overdose, as she explains, “and wishing that I had something else there to pull me out of it, like some sort of greater force, but it just wasn’t there. It’s become a really important song for us live.”
“In the song I talk about being left outside in the middle of the night” continues Livingstone “I called The Crisis Line that night and they saved my life, it would have been too late otherwise.”
The video was shot in Livingstone’s childhood bedroom and surrounding area up North (Hull), where she grew up before moving to Leeds when she was 16.
“It still looks just like it was when I left it. Loads of old band merch, a LOT of Michael Jackson memorabilia, records and a bunch of stuff that I can’t really have with me at the moment. With Conor knowing the meaning behind the song – and obviously standing by me as a friend when I wasn’t well at the time – we kind of just wanted to tell it how it was. Not the happiest of songs, or videos, but it is what it is.”
“Since then I have used the term ‘Ladyfuzz’ as something positive. I curate a zine with a bunch of contributors from all over the world. We put out issues every few months and celebrate female artists and musicians. I feel good now that something good came out of it.”
With male suicide recently at the highest rate it’s ever been in 2014, and female suicide rates at the highest they’ve ever been full stop, Kamikaze Girls are keen to highlight that they do not wish to glamourise suicide, simply present the realities honestly. There are many great services in the UK available to provide help for anyone struggling, including The Samaritans, the mental health charity Mind and The Crisis Line to name a few.
You can check out the video for ‘Ladyfuzz’ below:
‘SAD’ is out on Bearded Punk Records on September 2nd. You can pre-order it here.