Video premiere: "Endless War" by The Autumn Stones

Photo by Lori Whelan

“‘Endless War’ is our most punk-sounding track, said Ciaran Megahey, vocalist and guitarist for Toronto-based indie-pop quartet The Autumn Stones. “The guitars are fast-paced and intentionally reminiscent of the guitar whirr of early songs by The Wedding Present. It also has a little dub-y bridge making it our punky reggae party.

“Lyrically, the song is about ideological conflict,” Megahey continued. “The war of ideas — specifically the conflict between theocracy and secularism in our world today and how avoiding and denying it simply prolongs the inevitable. Better to face up to it and try to make the case for why secularism is so important: without it, you have no basis for human rights.

“Theocracy is anti-human,” he concluded. “It’s sad that this still needs to be pointed out, but it does.”

“For the “Endless War” video, we wanted to both have some fun with the band and illustrate the notion of the ages-old, never-ending conflict mentioned in Ciaran’s lyrics and the Christopher Hitchens essay that inspired them,” said director Eric Grant. “We borrowed the look and visual language of 1960s/70s war flicks and TV, and mixed that with scenes from “Intolerance,” a movie from the dawn of film about a religious war from the dawn of civilization.”

The war of ideas meets a punky reggae party. What could be better? Hope y’all dig it.

Production credits
“Endless War” song:
Produced by Dean Marino and The Autumn Stones
Written by Ciaran Megahey
Arranged by The Autumn Stones

“Endless War” video:
Directed by Eric Grant
Produced by Frame in Motion Solutions
Includes footage from D. W. Griffith’s Intolerance: Love’s Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916)

THE AUTUMN STONES
Ciaran Megahey: Vocals, guitar
Michael K. Newton: Bass
Matthew McLaughlin: Drums
Gary Butler: Saxophones