Noel Clark – Memphis Flyer

Music Video Monday will get you moving!

Today’s MVM is by a relavtively new band called TVYellow. Drummer Luke Stubblefield, guitarist Sal Sanchez, formerly of 7$Sox, were joined by Billy Ray Thomas on bass, Noel Clark on guitar, and vocalist Crockett Hall, played a single show before the pandemic shut down live music. They spent their time finishing an album, and released Worst Invention in September 2020. They immediately returned to Young Avenue Sound with Brass Tacks Audio’s Matt Qualls behind the controls. It was, Clark says, “ … a practice in focus on the creative process rather than on uncontrollable circumstances.”

Clark says “Wolves I Have Known” is meant to “capture the energy and excitement of roaring guitars and pounding drums in a tight venue. The single is proof that high energy live performances will live on in Memphis, in person and on records, whatever the circumstances.”

The music video was created by Stubblefield using the low-budget filmmaker’s best friend: public domain footage. In this case, it’s animation from the silent era, with a little extra 21st century razzmatazz. Watch for TVYellow’s return to the stage at the Lamplighter on November 27.

If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.

If I were driving to work these days — instead of rolling out of bed and shuffling over to the desk in the corner of the room — the debut album, Worst Invention, by Memphis band TvYellow would be my first choice to soundtrack the morning drive Downtown. Though the commute is far shorter in these work-from-home days, a healthy dose of Worst Invention is still the best medicine to help jolt myself out of the morning fog. The album is a shot in the arm, a wake-up call for somnambulists sleepily stumbling through the morning.

TvYellow is Salvador Sanchez, Luke Stubblefield, Noel Clark, Billy Ray Thomas, and relatively new recruit Crockett Hall, who joined the band as vocalist during the recording process. “They’d already cut all the music with Matt Qualls at Young Avenue Sound before I joined the band,” Hall tells me. “So all I had to was write the lyrics and vocal melodies.”

Hall continues, “It was my first time writing to songs that I had not been a part of from their inception, so it was a really challenging and fun experience for me.” If Hall hadn’t said so, I never would have guessed. The vocal melodies are in perfect harmony with the instrumentation, and the turnarounds are tight, as if the band mates have been sharing stages for years.

The first track, “TV Yellow,” is a personal favorite. It opens with a drum hit followed by rhythm and lead guitars playing in lockstep. The bass marries the melody and the beat. “I don’t want you to do just what you’re told,” Hall sings. “I just want you in my head to tell me just what I’m fighting for.” The song is catchy, and I found myself humming it on and off all weekend.

While “Grow Up” makes excellent use of the punkish down-strum, “Under the Rug” opens with a melodic riff. There is a hint of punk in the TvYellow melting pot, but it presents itself more in the band’s attitude than in adherence to genre tropes.

Worst Invention finds a new Memphis musical act firing on all cylinders. It’s an impressive debut that warrants multiple listens. Worst Invention is available via all music streaming platforms.