Austin’s favorite space cowboy Wild Bill is back in a big way with what he and his crew are calling “The Beaten Man Trilogy,” a series of videos extending the narrative of his new album Fighting for the Title, comprised of two sides, “The Fall” and “The Comeback,” which comes out this Friday, September 22nd. The videos are co-directed by Wild Bill Ogden himself and Will Martin and are specifically connected to The Comeback, and as you’d expect from a title like that they emphasize triumph over initial defeat, only to fall all over again.
The first, “Gettin’ N Shape,” has Bill seeking training from ABGB’s Mark Jensen to take down a bully, with Jensen using a mysterious power glove to turn Bill into a wolfman to aid him in this. The gang even shot the video at a boxing gym owned by Richard Lord, a pro boxer who once trained David Bowie for his own ’80s comeback tour.
Of course, all that training and power takes a toll, so the second video, “I’m the Wolfman,” has Bill losing control, not noticing how much he’s pushing everyone around him towards betrayal until it’s too late. Ogden and Martin cram the video full of throwbacks and references, with its story loosely inspired by Rocky 3 and background bits nodding towards everything from Mike Tyson’s Punch Out! to Street Fighter 2.
Closing everything out is the bittersweet “Fighting for the Title,” where Bill, a classic hero archetype if there ever was one, gets the beating of his life, falling as much to his own hubris as the betrayal of his former friends and peers.
If this epic trash brawler trilogy doesn’t have you pumped for Fighting for the Title, then you might need to check your pulse. But if you’re as excited as us, you’ll want to also catch Wild Bill at ABGB on Friday, September 22nd for their album release show and pick up a copy of the concept album that spawned this franchise!
