Chris Pellnat, in his latest single, “No Kings for Me,” arrives like a punchy acoustic protest tune, then flips the table halfway through with fuzzy electric guitars, roaring energy, and yes, an unapologetically loud cowbell. What starts out sounding like it could’ve been played at a ’60s sit-in suddenly morphs into a no-holds-barred rock anthem that would make both Pete Seeger and Rage Against the Machine nod in approval.
Pellnat, a singer-songwriter from Hudson, NY, leans into that scrappy Americana-meets-underground-rock sound, blending the grit of garage rock with the soul of political folk. The guitar strums are punchy and raw, layered with steady drums and shimmering cymbals. His vocals are slightly muffled, like they’re coming from a speaker behind fogged glass.
Lyrically, the song pulls no punches. Pellnat’s lyrics are fiery, sardonic, and furious in equal measure. And just when you think it can’t get more biting, he throws in lines about fascism, hypocrisy, and dystopian control with a poet’s pen dipped in venom.
But what really sold me was the music video. Filmed entirely in VRChat and made by real people, the visual takes you into surreal, glitchy digital worlds where a defiant cartoon cat rides a robot, refusing to kneel to tyrants. The music video got me gushing cause of how “gamey” it looked. It really made me feel like “yeah this isn’t AI, right?” I was sold when I saw the Palestinian flag.
Check it out on YouTube.
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Review by: Naomi Joan