Around Boston and its surrounding neighborhoods and communities, the start of a new year doesn’t arrive in January – but during early September’s Labor Day weekend. The end of summer’s casual shrug and the returning crush of college students breathes new life into the city, and with the cool crisp air of autumn ambition comes the exciting feeling of endless possibilities. It’s the time all New Englanders start over again.
For Battlemode and the chiptune electronic-pop trio’s new single “Just Pretend,” set for release on Thursday, August 29 ahead of the long holiday weekend and an appearance at a special 35mm screening of Hackers at the Somerville Theatre on September 15’s Hack The Planet Day (an event curated by Battlemode themselves), the idea of starting over – and leaving the past behind – rings clear across a cool wave of Game Boy bleeps and bloops.
Where July single “Playlist” – declared an undisputed “Song of the Summer” by Boston media – was a broken-hearted breakup song and the digital impressions we leave behind, the pulsating 8-bit sophistication of “Just Pretend” suggests a new level of life and love awaits just around the corner for Astrologic (Astro), Bifflecup (Biff), and Sam Mulligan. It’s a restart of the game of love, just when everyone around them is feeling reborn.
“‘Just Pretend’ is about two people starting a possible new relationship, but still having reservations because of past love trauma,” says Astro. “They ultimately decide to ‘Just Pretend’ that stuff doesn’t matter and to live for the moment. The theme and lyrics were inspired by a relationship I was in where we both were scarred by the past, but we wanted to pretend we were normal people, and could have a fresh start.”
And it answers a simple question: What if Charlie Puth wrote a chiptune pop song complete with hip-hop verses? Perhaps he would have, had he stuck around the city after graduating from Berklee and partied a little bit more with the band and their raucous live shows – which in select venues now feature a mini pop-up arcade service via Super Party Bros.
“Musically, the center of gravity on ‘Just Pretend’ is the chiptune solo section,” says Biff. “The idea was to present a digital pop song that doesn’t initially reek of chiptune. The solo acts like a hair-metal guitar solo – slightly virtuosic, dramatic, and shows-off what a Game Boy can really do.”
The evolution in Battlemode’s sound is playing out across the screen with every sequel and ache derived from the group’s electronic violin, drum pads, guitars, and a pair of non-traditional instruments – a trusted Game Boy music sequencer Little Sound Dj and Dirtywave portable tracker sequencer and synthesizer M8.
The instrumentation and the mad scientist songwriting of the trio, which showcases its direction from January’s instrumental epic “MEGA” to the aforementioned smooth jam “Playlist” to the calm and collected headsmart urgency of “Just Pretend,” is only just now starting to crystallize.
“Battlemode has already had a few musical chapters, and hopefully has many more to come,” says Biff. “We want to see how chiptune can be involved in every style of music, but right now, we’re hyper focused on pop. Altering a timbre of music (normally associated with Super Mario Bros., and retro video game systems) into something sleek, tight, and popular is a challenge. ‘Just Pretend’ is a strong step forward towards that goal.”
It also redefines perceptions of chiptune and aligns stylistically with Boston’s known champions of synth-fueled music, like Passion Pit and Freezepop. Positioning “Just Pretend” just as autumn hits is more than a lyrical alignment; it’s embedded in the calendar.
“With our current slate of singles, we’re thinking about our songs as seasons,” admits Biff. “Though ‘Playlist’ has a hot summer sax vibe to it, ‘Just Pretend’ has a bit more autumn chill and crisp to it. There’s still tons of life, and warmth to it – but you can start to see your breath with this track. The thematic material is colder. ‘Just Pretend’ acts as a transition from ‘Playlist’ to our upcoming winter-depression single.”
A late-summer mini-tour around New England spotlighted the live Battlemode experience, and now it unfolds for Boston audiences as the year progresses. After the Hackers screening, the trio is readying a Halloween cover set performing as a certain nu-metal band everybody pretends to hate (details on that shortly), and plotting a major three-day chiptune festival in March 2025 called Boston Bit Down, featuring more than 30 acts both homegrown and national.
But first, it’s the Hackers screening for Hack The Planet Day that’s going to get everyone worked up. Presented by Double Feature and the Somerville Theatre, the Hackers screening lands on the anniversary of the film’s 1995 theatrical release, complete with 360-degree audio/visual remix of the film presented by Double Feature (v.Kash and Wubson) and Battlemode, with a special appearance by Renoly Santiago who played the film role of Phantom Phreak. And there’s an afterparty at Crystal Ballroom for those who want to keep the game going.
It’s a special event especially for Biff, who is curating it to bring more glitchy electronic vibes to Boston-area audiences.
“I grew up under a single, working mother, who had to leave my brother and I home alone on weekends,” Biff confides. “We spent most weekends cycling through NES games, staring at our Gateway 2000 desktop computer, and rewatching a small catalog of VHS tapes. An HBO broadcast of Hackers, recorded on a Maxell blank VHS tape, ended up in our small collection. It became a staple of our Saturday and Sunday afternoons.”
He adds: “At the time, Hackers was the complete opposite of my reality. I grew up in a little town. I wore hand-me-down turtlenecks. My viola and childhood cat were my only friends. Alternatively, Hackers takes place in a cutting-edge metropolitan area. The characters wear sharp, futuristic gear. The film is full of cyber, flashing imagery. The digital persona of Hackers made a connection with me, and certainly had a lasting effect. I still aspire to reach the technological charisma displayed in Hackers.”
After helping run a cult movie night called “Rotten To The Core” at Apple Cinemas in the far-end of Cambridge most folks only experience by sitting in rotary traffic, Biff saw the most successful screening was that of Hackers. As Battlemode position themselves as Boston’s soundtrack to video game music culture, the time was right to resurrect the vibe and align the band and its blossoming sound with the ethos of Acid Burn, Crash Override, and Phantom Phreak.
“Eight years later, I’m expanding on this event,” Biff declares “I’ve found some like-minded digital artists (Wubson, V.Kash, Lavagxrl) to help set the Hackers tone with an electronic music, and 360 degree visual preshow. Hackers deserves a celebration, and we’re pulling out all the tricks in our hand to honor it!
Some might say it even makes for the perfect date night – especially those who are getting together for the first time. All he, she, or they need to do is leave the past behind, and vibe out to “Just Pretend” – even if the subject matter is a little difficult for those venturing back out in the game of love.
“I think all of our songs come from a place of discomfort,” Biff concludes. “Though we love comfortable songs, I’m not sure Battlemode would ever be able to write one. We want there to be movement, and progression in our songs. When one is comfortable, one sits still – but when one is uncomfortable one ventures out to new spaces.
And here in Boston, this is the time of year when everything old becomes new again.
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Battlemode is:
Biff: Vocals, Violin, keyboard, aerophone
Astro: Vocals, Game Boy
Sam: Vocals, guitar
Battlemode short bio:
Battlemode is the vibrant and irrepressibly energetic work of mismatched but inseparable friends Astro, Biff, and Sam. Together they create dynamic electro-pop that embraces sounds of the past in order to look forward; incorporating the glitchy 8-bit chiptune sounds that accompanied adolescent days spent playing Game Boys, and reinvigorating them amongst contemporary synth.
