poptropicaslutz! Share Alluring Music Video For New Single “mdma keeps the doctor away”

LA transplants by way of NY, poptropicaslutz! (Nick Crawford (23) and Christian Cicilia (22)) are re-introducing themselves with their first new single and music video of the year, "mdma keeps the doctor away", co-produced by Kodeblooded & aldrch, and directed by Max Durante.

Trading their glitched-out, nostalgic emo-pop for something distinctively modern, "mdma" builds on the duo's already expansive soundscape to reveal a refined vision. Glittery, futuristic synths intertwine with an 808 kick and melodic autotuned flow, evoking the euphoria and hype-inducing nature of rappers like Travis Scott and Yeezus era Ye. Reflecting on its suggestive title, the band says, "It's the perfect name for the song because sometimes an apple isn't enough to solve all of your problems."

"mdma keeps the doctor away"

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Inside a dimly lit glass box with condensation on the walls and flashing lights exposing scantily clad silhouetted figures, pts! describe what actually went on behind the scenes of the music video: "After spending 12 hours building an 8-foot glass box, we then realized we still had a video to shoot." Solution? "We threw a party and had all the guests do something in the box - we think they enjoyed it."

Influenced by the indie sleaze and club revival that Gen-Z is at the forefront of, poptropicaslutz! are part of a resurgence of young up-and-coming creatives currently navigating party culture in their early 20's. Going from NYC afterparties at Kind Regards with their longtime friend aldrch spinning 2000's club classics, they've now relocated to LA and have already hosted a series of parties at their home in the valley that they endearingly call the "Hot House". Quickly gaining a reputation with the local party scene, famed photog Cobra Snake has even come out to capture their events.

After cutting their teeth on SoundCloud with a genre-bending sound that Fashionably Early described as a meeting of "post-hardcore and rap", throughout recent years pts! has leaned into their electronic and guitar-led influences which caught the attention of Epitaph Records. They put out multiple EP's on the label, and then came their debut record Face For The Radio (2023) - a collection that Ones To Watch considered "complex and dynamic pop songs best visualized as colorful mosaic paintings of sound."