Deena Shoshkes is a New Jersey-based singer-songwriter-rocker, known for her two solo albums as Deena, as a member of The Campfire Flies, and for her long history with The Cucumbers, the ‘80s Hoboken band she co-founded, with her husband Jon Fried. The Poor Man’s Opera describe themselves as “A good ol’ bar band that plays some great ol’ tunes.” Fronted by Mark Moran (of Weird NJ fame) with Rick Wagner, Andy Riedel and Dave Hartkern.
Music from this “Bridge and Tunnel” Jersey Girl and her bar band friends has delighted some key NJ music writers and radio dj’s. Jim Testa from Jersey Beat named it one of the year’s 10 best NJ releases, and WFMU’s Joe “Three Chord Monte” Block included “Thursday” among his best of 2020 releases. John Gentile from Punk News called “Some Days” “pop rock perfection.”
Today Glide is offering an exclusive premiere of the video for “Thursday,” a much-needed ode to the glimmer of hope that keeps us moving forward through time. Performed by Deena with The Poor Man’s Opera, it’s the flip side/second single from their two-sided “Some Days” released this past fall. Firing off with the kind of immediate rock and roll fervor that most of us associate with the Rolling Stones, Deena’s vocals chime in with a welcome twang. Feisty riffs and upbeat background singers add a sunny feeling of hope to the song as Deena sings about transformation in a positive sense.
“In covid times I’ve been walking daily through the nearby woods,” says Shoshkes. “The same path is ever changing.” The video celebrates bridges and tunnels as portals and paths to transformation. The repetition of the days of the week is emblematic of the times we are living in. In spite of the sameness of the days, nothing stays the same, everything is in motion.
The video, a collaboration by Jon Fried and Deena Shoshkes, transports the viewer from the Arizona desert to the streets of New York City, on to a peaking autumnal Vermont byway, along the New Jersey Turnpike into an ever changing path in the woods. Whether it’s a bridge to Groundhog Day, or a tunnel into the future, the answer is in the beat that carries us forward and the journey that expands our minds.
WATCH:
