Glitter-rock meet 70s psychedelic, with a hint of punk, is merely touching on what the band Uni sounds like. They’re a bit of this and a bit of that. But also, none of any of that, too. Uni are in their own league and therefore genre, which is more than refreshing to hear in 2019, as artists and musicians clamber over each other for streams and likes, their IDGAF attitude towards fitting in and popularity is cathartic. And we’re happy to be sharing their newest music video, American Fag.

The three-person group made up of David Strange, Charlotte Kemp Muhl and Jack James look like the theatre/art kids that you’d actually want to spend your lunch break with at school. One photo shows them unabashedly posing with three large balloons spelling the band’s name out, you know- the one’s girls on Instagram use to show their age. James wears a birthday tiara, Strange’s face is partially covered with bug-eye sunglasses and Muhl has a fake nosebleed. It’s a confusing mashup of individuals until you hear the music. One of their most recent singles Destroyer came with a post-apocalyptic letter from a fallout shelter in the year 2042.

“Some said it was the exploitation of the poor. The rich blamed the marxist revolt. Some say the feminists had turned their backs on the men, while others blamed toxic masculinity. Helter Skelter played its part, “it reads. Finally settling on blaming the “reptilian DNA” that is inside of everyone: The Destroyer. “It was something older than the universe itself, embedded in every molecule exploded from the Big Bang and crawling as a single cell from the primordial sludge to the White House lawn.”

As well as their sound, Uni’s message is one that differs from contemporary artists- especially the way in which they express it. American Fag was written after gay marriage was legalized in America, with the glee that many people shared and a cautious questioning that such a mistreated community would understandably have after years of oppression. “We wrote this song in honor of the reversal of law, opinion and ideology it represented. The marginalized parties could now party in the margins. The victims became vixens, the tragic turned to magic, and the outcasts could cast themselves in the starring role,” they said.

Calling it a “reversal of fortune” the band made a wry comparison to the way LGBTQ members were being accepted and loved to the admiration America has with its flag, seen mostly outside of cities and previously gay-friendly places. “In the context of a patriotic red, white, and blue hot dog eating, football playing America that opened its arms and embraced for the first time with fervor equal to the flag of the country it loves: The American Fag.”

Uni will be touring with the band The Claypool Lennon Delirium this Spring and whose member, Sean Lennon, is dating Muhl. They will be playing at the Brooklyn Steel venue on April 16th. For other dates and locations on where to see Uni, see here.