“I was listening to Swell Maps one day and realized I wanted to play rock and roll again,” says Will Ivy, guitarist/singer for his new band Flat Worms. Ivy’s been playing in bands for years, most recently under his new solo effort, and as the bassist for Dream Boys, a personal favorite. But Flat Worms is unlike anything I’ve heard him play. It’s raw. Loud. Real. Dare I say, punk. With the help of Justin Sullivan on drums (formerly the Babies, currently Kevin Morby) and Tim Hellman on bass (currently Thee Oh Sees, formerly Ty Segall, Sic Alps, Wet Illustrated), Flat Worms is about to rule the LA scene. And what better way to segue into that subversive spotlight than with their first ever video for the single “Sovereignty”.

The video, compiled footage of Ivy’s 5th birthday party, is an homage to his uncle, Bradley Burlingame (starring as Batman) who recently passed away. “I’ll let you guess which one is me,” Ivy told me.

“Sovereignty” is part of a three-song 7″ recorded by Andrew Schubert at Golden Beat Recording Studio in LA and Wayne Faler (Dream Boys, Devon Williams) at his home. Check out “Petulance” below, one of the other songs on the 7″.

Having now seen Ivy as a five year old and experienced the magic of an early affinity for Batman, I can’t help but feel Flat Worms will be his greatest success yet. –Maya Eslami