Toronto indie-punk powerhouse Talk Show Host releases the first video from their critically acclaimed third EP, Not Here To Make Friends. The song’s title, “I Hate Men (I Hate All Men)”, is not meant to be taken sarcastically: the song skewers male entitlement, with verses delivered by an oblivious narrator who represents the worst of male privilege. One Redditor declared that the lyrics were “the most cuck” he had ever heard, so the band considers that a success.

The trio enlisted French director Judith Florent-Lapara to visually capture the essence of the song. The video features a crew of energetic teenage girls ready to laugh at the ongoing presence of the patriarchy in the music scene. “I was inspired by women’s groups that have marked the history of feminist music — like the Runaways, the Riot Grrl movement or even the Spice Girls — and I wanted to form a group of badass girls; the teenage aesthetic and the ’90s are completely part of my universe,” says Florent-Lapara. “I chose Noémie to play the leader of the group because not only she is an actress, but also a confirmed feminist activist. I was also inspired by the personality and style of the actresses, so everything was natural and the girls had fun while we were shooting. And it was really nice to work with 14- or 15-year-old girls who are motivated and full of energy.

She also notes that she wanted the video to have an upbeat tone: “I think that sometimes you need to include humour in activist projects. It’s important for the public to see that being engaged in politics and activism is not always violent and serious, but sometimes you can also have a good laugh at misogyny.”

Talk Show Host is an indie punk trio from Toronto, Canada, with three EPs under their belt. Their 2016 release, Perfectly Competent, drew comparisons to Green Day, Against Me! and Bob Mould. 2017 was a busy year for the band: a successful co-headlining European tour; the release of a Tragically Hip cover to raise money for the Gord Downie Fund for Brain Cancer Research; high-profile shows with Direct Hit!, Pet Symmetry and Planes Mistaken For Stars; and the first single from Not Here to Make Friends, “Dead Meat”, landed on Spotify’s “Punk Unleashed” playlist alongside punk-rock essentials such as Frank Turner, Quicksand and The Bronx.