Seattle’s The National Honor Society Unveil Their “First Among The Last” Music Video [Premiere]

A band from Seattle? Well, there’s a way to get you immediately interested in what’s to follow. To All The Glory We Never Had is the debut record from the Seattle quartet, The National Honor Society, and with it due out on May 29th via Chien Lunatique Records, it’s about time for you to get acquainted with this band’s music. Their lead single, “First Among The Last,” dropped on April 6th and, today, we’re thrilled to debut the accompanying music video.

Rather than the same, ho-hum performance videos which see a band performing their song in some halfway interesting location, The National Honor Society (NHS) chose to be half animated. While you can see the members performing “First Among The Last,” there is a coating of animation, an idea that was brought to reality by director Kyle Porter.

Porter had this to say about the video and his excitement for working with the group. “I see a lot of what I create as being an echo of the ‘80s and ‘90s, as though I’m re-litigating the end of the 20th century. As a millennial, my sense of nostalgia is invariably framed through music videos. When I listen to NHS it most certainly conjures the past, but the music is very much alive and now. And, as the whole world grapples with uncertain change and fear, I am so grateful to participate in something alive and now.”

NHS highlighted how the current worldwide pandemic significantly influenced and altered the concept behind the video. “The Covid-19 crisis caused this song to be somewhat re-purposed, as its original message seems applicable given the current state of the world. Carrying on during a crisis, whatever it may be, causes us to dig deep as we try to make it through each day in a world that seems to be crumbling before us. Unable to follow through with our original idea for this project, we pivoted to make this ‘Covideo’ while separately quarantined in our own homes. Each of us tried to capture our daily lives, our descents into solitude, which director Kyle Porter then skillfully assembled to weave together our experiences, collectively.”

Produced by Erik Blood (Pink Lotion, Knife Knights, Shabazz Palaces), To All The Glory We Never Had is best characterized by its stirring melodies and fully realized songwriting. The record takes on a very uplifting tone through its ten tracks, which is a little something of what we all need this year. NHS got the ball rolling in 2017 with their debut EP, All Change, and the growing momentum has followed from there. That ball primarily was put in motion in their hometown of Seattle where their enjoyable live performances began to gain traction with the at times very fickle indie audience. Now the buzz has spread outside of their home city and To All The Glory We Never Had has all the makings of being The National Honor Society’s breakthrough release.

Artwork for ‘First Among The Last’ by The National Honor Society

Artwork for ‘Glory’ by The National Honor Society