In an act of sincere, coordinated irony, L7 have released both a video for their song “Holding Pattern” along with a statement about how items purchased through the now-defunct website PledgeMusic are also in a holding pattern.
The video shows fuzzy, psychedelic footage of the band members — a symbolic representation of feeling stuck — as they play the song’s poppy, serene melodies. “Holding Pattern” appears on L7’s recent comeback LP, Scatter the Rats.
“‘Holding Pattern’ is a song about being stuck, caught in a loop of stagnation either by fate or psychological paralysis, or both,” singer-guitarist Donita Sparks said in a statement. “I’ve been there a few times and it’s depressing and frustrating. Lyrically, this is a pep talk to my soul from the fairly incompetent life coach that lives in my brain to get things moving forward in a positive manner. ‘Do it, it’s just your life. … The future is waiting, get here soon.’”
The video comes a few months after the website PledgeMusic, a crowdfunding site that offered rewards to fans who backed bands, declared bankruptcy. L7 had used the site to raise money for Scatter the Rats and were left high and dry when the site imploded. The money the band raised never made it to them, and in a statement they described it as a “fiasco.” Joan Jett’s Blackheart Records came in as a savior and helped the band manufacture and ship Scatter the Rats, and the band says it will make good on the PledgeMusic orders.
“PledgeMusic has held over $20,000 in shipping costs alone that we have no access to and will likely never see,” the group said in a joint statement on Facebook. “However, L7 has made the financial commitment to honor these mailings. From the Borough of Brooklyn to the shores of Peru, every Pledger who paid for the record please take note, the music is on its way!” The group added, “The only time we will speak of this again will be in a courtroom.”
As an added thank you, the group said they were including a “Willy Wonka–style” Golden Ticket in one of the shipments. Whoever finds it will receive Sparks’ now-autographed Golden Flying V guitar, which she played onstage on the tour in support of Scatter the Rats.
“Although our song ‘Holding Pattern’ is not about this lousy experience with PledgeMusic, we believe that we can all relate to its inspiration of being caught in a disheartening loop of stagnation in one way or another,” the band said.