Make no mistake I’m a slippery snake
under archetype’s cool command
Heads aflame, do you feel the same
are you gutted when gazing at me?
The pharmaceutical industry can feel like a towering gatekeeper, doling out easy fixes in tiny, colour-coded capsules. Yet one wonders: are these wonder tablets truly healing, or do they merely stifle our deeper cries for help? It’s as if a chokehold has been placed around our collective spirit from the age of childhood—offering brief relief without addressing the root of our troubles. When life’s storms arrive with a force beyond any pill’s reach, we find ourselves wading into the gale unshielded, unsure if we’re truly confronting our demons or simply numbing their roar. Perhaps, in that moment, we glimpse our own raw humanity, and the pills, once mighty, grow startlingly small.
Mary Chicken Soup and Rice’s new single, Always on the Drugs, leaps out of the gate like an untamed mare, heralding the arrival of Que Linda on January 31st, 2025, courtesy of Chapel Hill’s Clearly Records. This tasty morsel sets a topsy-turvy stage with echoing choruses, minimalist shoegaze strums, and percussion that moseys in like a forgotten friend. At once psychedelic and somewhat unsettling, the track feels like a jam session with Bowie, Brian Eno, MGMT, The Dandy Warhols, and a side of Love and Rockets—tossed in a blender, then poured over an ice-cold punch bowl of possibility. There’s a wry wink beneath the odd brew, as though the band’s tipping its hat to past innovators while forging a new path. Guitar tones hum and shimmer, the vocals float with curious charm, and the overall vibe begs the listener to dive headfirst into a swirling party of sound and surprise.
Always on the Drugs unfurls childhood memories steeped in fear, steered by the promise of medical miracles, yet laced with an undercurrent of longing for freedom. Doctors drift through the story like white-coated magicians, conjuring pills and potions, even as illusions and rebellious sparks hint at a deeper ache for something real. The speaker, tethered to prescriptions, juggles a fluid sense of identity—sometimes fearless, sometimes fragile. Moments of unity bloom like wildflowers, only to wilt under the weight of medication and market forces.
Meanwhile, the video stars an anarchic clown in a comic book conversation – a Joker-like figure – creeping through corridors with a film crew capturing the absurd spectacle. It’s a sly wink at the pharmaceutical machine—are these meds the genuine key to well-being, or a neon sign of commercial opportunism? The footage pokes at questions of authenticity: is our true self being buried beneath pills, or are we genuinely easing our torment with a spoonful of chemistry?
While comical (literally) in nature, the song’s message is deadly serious. The music industry is rife with users, boozers and losers – but this song takes the unusual approach that we’re often set up for failure at an early age. In the end, what’s the real difference between the doctor and the street pusher when there’s money to be made on suffering?
Watch the video for “Always On The The Drugs” below:
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