Bands named after their equipment aren’t all that common. I can only think of two off the top of my head: 808 State, named after a drum machine, and Echo and the Bunnymen, also named after a drum machine, which was named “Echo.”
Chicago band Running is also part of that short list. The band takes their name from the broken effects pedal you can hear wailing away at the beginning of their new track “This Is A You Problem.” That sound is one you’re probably familiar with if you’ve ever seen the band live, since they stomp the pedal on at the beginning of the show and leave it on until the end — thus keeping it running.
It also means that there’s no such thing as a quiet moment when Running takes the stage. Every place where the band might try to insert a clean guitar riff, the pedal takes over and bleeds each song into the next. Basically, everything this band tries to play, live or on record, turns into a noisy freakout. And I’m OK with that.
Running’s new LP Vaguely Ethnic comes out August 6th on Castle Face Records. The band premiered this song on Pitchfork, where you can also download it, but it’s also embedded below care of someone who decided the track sounded better on YouTube.