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Mar 23, 2021 By Caleb Campbell

Transatlantic indie rock band The Backfires, formerly known as Qualia Noir, debuted in February with the tight nocturnal indie rock of their EP, Consider The Backfires. With members in both NYC and the UK, the band is equally inspired by 2000s New York indie like The Strokes as by British touchstones like Arctic Monkeys or Oasis. The band’s debut EP captures a similar element, inspired by “the unique coming-of-age experience of being a nineteen-year-old American living in London.” Following Consider The Backfires the band has returned with a new video for “Going Gets Easy,” premiering with Under the Radar.

“Going Gets Easy,” on its surface, appears to be an energetic tribute to nights out, opening on the scene-setting line “It’s 5 AM on a Friday night.” Yet, over the course of the song, it becomes clear the nights out are more about drowning fears than simply partying. As frontman Alex Gomez croons on the bridge, “The going gets easy when you can’t remember going out.” Of course, the track is far from dour, filled with start-stop guitar riffs, driving indie rock pacing, and a fiery instrumental climax. When the band locks in together they instantly transport you back to packed venues and sold-out shows, capturing all of the brilliant escapism that nights out represent.

Gomez says of the song, “‘Going Gets Easy’ started as a song about overthinking and drowning out those thoughts through going out. In the pandemic, however, it’s taken on a different life. When we look back on the lyrics, it reminds us of a dream or a memory of what going out used to mean and the late nights of it all. Part of why the pandemic is hard is because we are constantly comparing our lives to what life used to be like. Now that we’re well over a year in, the “going gets easy” when you literally can’t remember going out. When you’re able to accept the new order of things and the ways our lives have changed, maybe it’s then that we can be happy or content again?” Check out the video below and stream Consider The Backfires, out now.