Love Axe planned to make their sophomore album have a country vibe. That’s not how it ended up. And thank goodness—otherwise, we would have missed their charmingly ’80s, yet somehow modern take on love that is “Give Me A Kiss”.
Chris Hatfield, the multi-instrumentalist, composer, and frontman for Love Axe, crafted lighthearted cadences that autotuned down an octave for comic weight and a chorus that can’t help but make you smile.
At every twist, there’s a modern take on the retro. The cheesy “Give me a kiss, girl,” opening lyric in the chorus gets deflated with “unless you don’t want to” seconds later. Even the “girl” in that line flips to be “man” only a few dozen bars later. Love is love and consent is sexy.
But the message isn’t the only thing that lifts your mood. With a funky bassline center stage in the song, Joelle Barrios keeps the groove bouncing beat after beat. Erik Cline on guitar and Mike Ambs on the drums fill out the sound to bring you back with vintage flair.
And with a wonderfully fun throwback lyric video directed by Jeremy Bird, the audiovisual story feels as tightly connected as a Breakfast Club clique.
Watch “Give Me A Kiss” below.
Ben is an advertising Madman who spends his days with words and music. When he’s not writing for his supper, he’s eating it at some of NYC’s most interesting restaurants.
