Bryce Clifford’s Yuppie Affirmation

The denizens of Austin’s Downtown high-rises never asked for an anthem, but then Bryce Clifford never set out to write one – or make a video for the song. The local singer/guitarist idled in gridlock one day near the W hotel, when he saw a Segway tour roll up.

Bryce Clifford & Brother Superior (Courtesty of Bryce Clifford)

“The guide was pointing up, saying how much a condo in there costs, which even I couldn’t believe, and a young girl in a goofy helmet said, ‘I wanna buy a condo Downtown,’” he recounts of the scene that inspired the standout track on Bryce Clifford & Brother Superior’s 2016 EP Whatever Coach. “The riff and chorus came to me as I drove home, and there I Googled the phrase, which led me to some blog posts. The blogs contained the language and inane attitude that I hoped would bump up against the title.

“I think this song lands in the tradition of those that are simply a mirror.”

Indeed, the tune, riding a slow wrecking ball of alternative post-punk imbued with bellowing baritone sax, delivers lines that sound like they were ripped straight from the mouths of trust-funded condo shoppers:

“I hear there’s a great nightlife there
Where thousands head DT to party
Especially professional types
A great downtown nightlife
There’s no lack of beautiful people there
That’s what I hear”

A new video, directed by Rob Gentry, soundtracks the single with scenes of Austin’s city center – opulence, poverty, drunkenness, and locations erased by construction.

“I guess I’m channeling the impermanence of the lives people build and the irreverence of those who build on top of them,” Clifford says.

Bryce Clifford & Brother Superior play the Hole in the Wall on Friday alongside Booher, Fools, and Street Themes. Here’s the “I Wanna Buy a Condo Downtown” clip: