Neon Trees are a combination of slick pop hooks and sturdy organic rock, both melodic and hard-hitting. Their anthems of adolescent angst, longing, love lost and found, are delivered with the kind of heart-on-the-sleeve passion that only comes from hard work and commitment.
The first single, “Animal,” takes off from a Strokes-like intro into a song equally at home in the arena as on the dance floor. It’s a paean to sexual longing in which singer/keyboardist/lyricist/front man extraordinaire Tyler Glenn wails, “Take a bite out of my heart tonight,” and you have no reason to doubt his sincerity.
In Neon Trees’ new video, “Animal” they channeled a scene from Tim Burton’s movie, Batman, in which the foursome take part in an art museum rampage. When the band was asked what the meaning was behind “Animal” they answered, “I’m a masochist in love, and somehow am shocked when there is no pain. I am not very nice to myself when I’m in a relationship. I also observe a lot of my friends when they are starting out they all seem like predators or animals, and so I took all these dark elements and put them in a pop song.”
“Something that is quite important to us as a band is art and aesthetic and we wanted to make something visually rad for the official vid. I think people will love it and it will have more of the vibe of what are live is, a little more visceral, a little more artistic, but still quite tongue and cheek.”
Neon Trees plan to hit the road as a supporting act to 30 Seconds to Mars‘ “Into the Wild” tour in April and May.