Chat Pile, the acclaimed sludge/no-wave band from Oklahoma City, have just released the music video for "Same Rules," the third single from their upcoming album Who Loves The Sun. This time around, to help embody their dark, apocalyptic sound, the band are taking some of the air out of, arguably, this year's most enigmatic and prestigious Oscar hopefuls.
The video, helmed by infamous internet gadfly Bug Mane, the alter ego of writer/director/actor Nick Corirossi (The Napa Boys, Live at the Necropolis: The Lords of Synth), sends up the much-hyped trailer for Digger, the questionably named new film starring Academy Award-nominee Tom Cruise (Born on the Fourth of July, Top Gun: Maverick) from four-time Academy Award-winner Alejandro González Iñárritu (The Revenant, Babel).
The clip showcases an unrecognizable Josh Fadem (Twin Peaks: The Return, Better Call Saul) buried beneath a fat suit and old man mask, rocking boots and spurs while twirling a shovel in a dusty, portentously lit room. The video begins as a seemingly earnest riff on the film's first trailer (not, it should be noted, the more recent trailer, which online commentors have likened to a misbegotten bastard of Don't Look Up and last year's Mickey 17) before, in typical 'Mane fashion, spiraling off into the absurd. Not long after an unnamed exotic dancer joins him, Fadem-as-Digger is on the floor, overcome with some sort of cardiac event. With some half-hearted CPR, he's back on his feet—only now his face has pieces of pork sloughing off. Perhaps it's a comment on the hammy nature of Cruise's performance and the surrounding film. In either case, the demented energy suits the track's harrowing, full-tilt climax. Haunting, enigmatic, yet somehow still Extremely Online™, this video is classic Chat Pile.
Carve my name above where I rest / Light a candle for my two step / And dream about a life that’s fair and true / It was a different place but I still saw you / No world on the outside
Lyrically, the "Same Rules" track builds on past explorations of a looming apocalyptic collapse; where the track distinguishes itself is with the eerie sense that whatever hell awaits outside is slowly making its way inside. Whether that be literally or figuratively is almost beside the point; the feeling couldn't be more real. Musically, "Same Rules" shifts the more immediate sound of recent singles "Deep Blue" and "PEN I S MALL" into something sparser, leaving plenty of space for the gated drum machine and clanging guitar figures. The bass in particular, rumbling and reverberating in the background, keeps the track's sense of dread palpable. When the band finally cranks the distortion in the final section, it's not so much a release as it is a crushing inevitability. Chat Pile have an uncanny ability to conjure the sound of things going from bad to worse.
Australian and New Zealand fans can catch Chat Pile on tour right now with Ragana. Starting next month, the band will headline the Who Loves The Sun Tour with special guests No Soul Glo, Virga, Shallowater, and Prize Horse. Who Loves The Sun arrives September 4th on The Flesner. CD, LP, and cassette pre-orders are available here.
Check out tour dates and the music video for "Same Rules" below. Skittle skattle!
Chat Pile's collaboration with Hayden Pedigo, In the Earth Again, is out now via The Flenser. Read The Nu Metal Agenda's review here.
08/12 Munich, DE @ Strom *
08/14 Val de Bagnes, CH @ PALP Festival
08/19 Dublin, IE @ Button Factory *
08/20 Dublin, IE @ Button Factory *
08/22 Bristol, UK @ ArcTanGent
08/23 Hasselt, BE @ Pukkelpop
* = with Ragana
Who Loves The Sun Tour 2026
09/12 Oklahoma City, OK @ Tower Theatre % $
09/17 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue ^
09/19 Chicago, IL @ Riot Fest %
09/20 Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre #
09/23 Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall #
09/25 Seattle, WA @ Showbox Sodo #
09/27 Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall #
09/29 Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades #
9/30 San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom #
10/03 San Diego, CA @ Music Box #
10/04 Los Angeles, CA @ The Belasco #
10/06 Mesa, AZ @ Nile Theater #
10/08 Austin, TX @ Radio/East #
10/09 Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall #
10/10 Dallas, TX @ The Granada Theater #
11/05 Detroit, MI @ The Majestic Theatre *
11/06 Millvale, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre *
11/08 Norwalk, CT @ District Music Hall
11/10 Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel *
11/11 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer *
11/12 Washington, DC @ Black Cat *
11/14 Charlotte, NC @ Underground *
11/15 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade *
11/16 Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl *
11/18 Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall *
11/20 Indianapolis, IA @ Deluxe at Old National Centre *
11/21 St. Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall *
11/22 Lawrence, KS @ The Granada *
% No Soul Glo
$ with Portrayal of Guilt, Nightosphere, Traindodge, and Primal Brain
# w/ Virga
* w/ Shallowater
^ w/ Prize Horse
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