French Cassettes Release New Single 'Medium Horny'

San Francisco Bay Area quartet French Cassettes return today with new single, “Medium Horny,” and a video from director Syra McCarthy, which premiered via FLOOD. Engineered by guitarist Mackenzie Bunch and mixed by Nick Krill (War On Drugs, Generationals), the single leads the way into an upcoming run of U.S. tour dates, kicking off next Wednesday, September 27 in Washington, DC [all dates below].

Discussing “Medium Horny”, guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Lorenzo Scott Huerta stated, “The song started as just finger shapes I liked the look of on my guitar. But truth be told the inspiration is split into 4 of my favorite songwriters. The first verse is Johnny Marr, middle section is Jeff Lynne and Bill Evans, the outro is Elliott Smith. I’ve never heard a full Evans song in my life… I don’t think, but I’ve heard he does ‘chord solos’ and I loved that idea so I wrote a guitar solo of just strummed chords.

When we recorded it, I tried to re-record the guitars, and our guitarist Mackenzie asked ‘Why?’ Which was a good point. So we just kept the demo guitars. Probably one of the strangest songs we’ve ever written but the only hiccup was when I told the band the name of the song and I remember there was a full 3 seconds of pause… then we got to work.”

Regarding the video, Syra McCarthy added, “From ages 7-15 I had this recurring dream that this suave alien named Charles would fly down from the sky in a cool car, park in front of my house and charm my neighbors and family into coming home with him, even offering me my favorite tootsie roll pop (cherry), but I was never sold. Listening to ‘Medium Horny’, the psychedelic sad boy sway made me think of (yes) the literal meaning, but also, Charles. How easily we can feel so numb and unsatisfied on the day to day and how easily someone like Charles could seduce us with ‘happiness' capitalism. But hey - maybe we’d like it. 

Maybe even swingers. Maybe Medium Horny is just the beginning! Everybody gets off in space.

Major thanks to the French Cassettes for being down for whatever. This video would not have been possible without Scott letting me drown him in a pool for 3 hours and Mac letting me blind him with an alien mask and no peripheral vision, tasked to not crash a very shiny 1986 Chrysler TC Maserati.”

French Cassettes released their acclaimed sophomore album Rolodex in December 2020, garnering praise locally from the SF Chronicle and East Bay Express, nationally from FLOOD, Culture Collide, and across the pond via The Line Of Best Fit and The Forty Five. The band followed in 2021 with the single, “Good For It,” which Bay Area NPR station KQED called it, “the happiest sad song we’ve heard in a long while,” adding “it nourishes the soul like a complimentary shot of wheatgrass, full of delightful harmonies, warm swells of sound and jangling keyboards one could want from something so short and sweet.”

And in the spring of 2022, with “On/Off,” with a video starring Johnny Knoxville, which premiered via Vice. The band made their first ever East Coast appearances this spring, including a performance at the New Colossus Festival. They are currently putting the finishing touches on a new album, due in 2024.

Tour Dates:

09/27 – Washington, DC @ Comet Ping Pong

09/28 – Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery

09/29 – Boston, MA @ Deep Cuts

09/30 – New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge

10/01 – Philadelphia, PA @ Ortlieb’s

10/02 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups

10/03 – Cleveland, OH @ Mahall’s

10/04 – Chicago, IL @ The Hideout

10/06 – St. Louis, MO @ The Golden Record

10/07 – Dubuque, IA @ Fox Den

10/08 – Minneapolis, MN @ Underground Music Café

10/27 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop

11/09 – Portland, OR @ Mission Theater

11/17 – Los Angeles, CA @ Permanent Records Roadhouse

Photo Credit: Marisa Bazan

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