Das Live-Video zu "Surviving California" wurde im Rahmen ihrer spätsommerlichen US-Tour im Club "Warsaw" in Brooklyn, New York gedreht. Der Song erzählt von der Zerrissenheit, mit der die kalifornischen Altväter auf ihren Heimatstaat blicken. Palmen & ein liberales Amerika einerseits - menschenverachtende Gentrifizierung und Turbokapitalismus andererseits.
Frontmann Joey Cape umreißt diesen Kontrast auf diese Weise: "There are multiple messages in this song: the cultural, the economic, the ecological and the personal. Yes, California has elements of a paradise but it is overpopulated and there are many issues as a result. A land so desirable brings pockets of wealth, "debtors of the dream", people who gentrify areas and turn towns into gated communities. Later the wealth crest spills and pushes into less affluent areas. Standards for wealth reflection are lowered and people living beyond their means are priced out of their homes. There are also not enough homes in California to house all its citizens.
And it’s not just the mentally ill who experience homelessness and the sharp end of the housing crisis.  Many people lose everything and the state’s moderate climate sets the stage for a very Californian lack of empathy and sympathy. Smiling under the high-priced sun, they write off the suffering of others in their bubble of relative comfort, given the utopian climate.  Ecologically speaking, we are waiting for the inevitable giant earthquake while we try not to lose our belongings or die in wild fires. That is dramatic to say but it also feels true."

17.11. AT - Wels - Alter Schlachthof
19.11. DE - Berlin - SO36
20.11. DE - Münster - Skaters Palace