Rundown Kreeps formed about a decade ago, released their debut EP in 2015, and have been making a name for themselves in the LA ska-punk scene ever since. They've just signed to Wiretap Records' new Latinx punk imprint My Grito, who will release their second full-length album this year, and their first single for the label is "Held Down."

The song was recorded by Jonathan Mireles and mastered by Roger Lima of Less Than Jake, and if you're into the minor-key ska and walking basslines of a song like Less Than Jake's "Johnny Quest Thinks We're Sellouts," you'll probably like this too. It's fun, danceable ska-punk with a dark side, and like a lot of good ska, it uses the euphoria of the music to deliver a purposeful message.

"'Held Down' discusses the self reflection of daily paranoia through the eyes of a Chicano living in Los Angeles during 2020," the band says. "The lyrics glide over the topics of racism, social status, gentrification, death, and self awareness in a borderline stoic manner. Sometimes resolution is inexistent, until you learn to be untroubled without it."

Speaking about the video, they add, "We figured that in times of quarantine, we’d do what we’ve always done. Which to us meant to do it ourselves. So, with a DIY mentality we chose to shoot, direct, and edit our own music video. It felt almost necessary to do it as a three person production during the pandemic. Our only true goals were to film something that no other band has done so far, make it feel as bizarre as the lyrics, and to have fun in the process of doing so. I’ve personally always loved B-Movies so the making of 'Held Down'’s music video was an extremely satisfying creative process for me. We hope that people enjoy this release as much as we enjoyed creating it."

Check it out below, and stay tuned for more on the upcoming album. You can hear the band's 2020 single "Yellow Truck" (also mastered by Roger Lima) below too.

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