Photo by Sara Messinger

There’s no reason to continue wading through the deep if there’s a way to climb your way out from it. That sentiment is two-fold for Hotline TNT on “Protocol”, the New York noise pop band’s new single and first for their new label home at Third Man Records. Ever since their 2021 breakthrough debut full-length, Nineteen In Love, the band fronted by former Weed guitarist Will Anderson has been delivering daydream bangers rich with woozy textures and big time fuzz that have accentuated wistfulness in real time. “Protocol” hears Anderson and company crossing over to the other side of those sensory sensations, clinging onto its good parts in its sweet elixir of heavenly reverb while recognizing the power of clearing out the heaviness from your conscious even if it means shouldering the blame. “Which side I’m on / Don’t matter if you’re gone / Just make sure / Run first when you’re hurt,” he sings. It’s certainly a step toward moving forward rather than always looking back…

Directed by: Fiona Kane

Hotline TNT’s “Protocol” single is available now on Third Man Records.