Bad Mannequins – Double Denim (Video Premiere)

‘I like the way you wear that double denim,’ screech Glasgow punks Bad Mannequins in their latest high-energy, bags-of-fun single, Double Denim, which sounds like a cross between Status Quo, Franz Ferdinand and The Black Keys. The single – taken from their forthcoming EP, the second in a trilogy – is set for release on 8 Dec via Triple Denim.

"Double Denim is the song we're most excited about at the moment. We've played it live at our past three shows and the response was amazing,” Bad Mannequins frontman Ross Hamilton tells us. “Lyrically it's the story of a girl whose parents met at a party in the lower east side of NYC in the mid 80s. The mum happens to be rocking double denim and ends up taking the dad back to her apartment. One of life's big questions is answered in the line ‘You wouldn't even be here if your momma didn't rock that double denim!’

“There's also a theme in there which runs through most of our songs, which is to always do your own thing and don't listen to what anyone else is telling you. That's summed up in the line ‘You never follow fashion ‘cos you've got your own style’. Hardly Dylan I know, but it sounds cool in the song and is a good piece of advice to live by!

“Musically I'd say we're trying to get the excitement of early rock’n’roll like Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode and the spirit of 70s punk in NYC, and deliver it all with our spin and the kind of punch and grittiness that lets you know this is something new. We always make sure we don't lose our sense of fun and that we keep the signature Bad Mannequins hooks, like the flamboyant delivery and the kind of drum beat that stays with you after the first listen."

The Skinny are premiering the music video for Double Denim – shot by Stuart Alexander via Shootback – which you can watch in the player above. “The video is pretty exciting to look at,” Hamilton says. “We have this sort of ‘Double Denim Suicide Squad’ who are basically trying to force double denim on innocent bystanders! Originally we had these denim balaclavas made for those scenes but as soon as we saw them on camera, we knew they could probably finish the band!!!

“We have some amazing visuals in the background by a great French artist (who shall remain nameless) and it really ups the momentum of the whole piece. You'll notice I'm trying to bring back the Jimmy Page Double-Neck SG... What other guitar could you use for a song called Double Denim?”

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Double Denim is released on 8 Dec via Triple Denim