Single Review: Retro Video Club - Checkmate

Edinburgh-based indie rock band Retro Video Club are back, and it’s been a while. Their new track ‘Checkmate’ is not only the bands first song of 2021, but it’s also their first release since 2019. Picking up from where they left off after nearly 3 years away, the 4-piece are well and truly back on form.

‘Checkmate’ teases you in with a fast guitar tempo and echoing, static lyrics. It’s a steady opening that builds until the entrance of crashing drums and loud vocals. Retro Video Club manage to create an energetic backdrop of rising instrumentals that cut out on the last line of the chorus, ‘we’re still holding on to when we were young’. The track rises and falls with its back and forth playfulness, as the vocals are made distinctive with their Scottish accents and are uplifting with a lively spirit. The melodies are both electric and nostalgic and culminates in an explosive final chorus.

Juxtaposed with their dynamic indie-rock melodies, the lyrics reminisce through ‘high school phases and textbook pages’. There’s still an emotional familiarity to the song however that plays on the themes of growing up, ‘cos the years are changing everything’.

The song is a revving, fast paced experience of frivolous flirtation. The marriage of mischievous lyrics, ‘I lied and said I loved ya’, on a soundscape of animated stimulation creates a sense of vibrant eclecticism. Retro Video Club have produced a sound that feels alive and spontaneous.

Whilst they were obviously missed during their time away, ‘Checkmate’ feels like 10-steps forward from their previous collection of releases for Retro Video Club. If the success of ‘Checkmate’ is anything to go by, let’s hope they aren’t about to take any more long breaks any time soon.

Words: Lizzie Shaw

Listen to Retro Video Club on the Only A Northern One playlist here.