Ain’t’s “Long Short Round” revives the past and finds comfort in the present

Ain’t make the kind of music that feels discovered from the overlooked corners of indie rock. The kind of band you might have found on a CD passed between friends. Before officially releasing music, Ain’t sold out their debut London show, with every gig proving harder to get into suggesting a cult status is quickly taking shape.

On their new single “Long Short Round”, they channel the raw grit of 90s grunge and the contemplative sincerity of Midwestern indie rock into something transcendent. At nearly six minutes in length, the track defies the streaming era’s demand for brevity, unfolding at its own pace without feeling indulgent. A live favourite, it’s proof that patience still resonates when the hook is worth holding onto. Lyrically, vocalist Hanna Baker Darch turns repetition and loops into ritual, finding meaning in the soothing acts we return to. “‘Long Short Round’ really boils down to doing something over and over until it becomes pointless,” Darch shares, “but you’re not even sure if it’s doing anything and still, it gives you comfort.”

Even the song’s title circles back to repetitive themes that continued to surface throughout the band’s process. Originally saved on guitarist Ed Randall’s phone after watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom – a nod to pint-sized sidekick Short Round played by acclaimed actor Ke Huy Quan – the phrase “Long Short Round” stuck after an early jam session stretched past fifteen minutes. “It was ridiculous and arbitrary. Later, I saw the actor who played Short Round as an adult in Everything Everywhere All at Once and thought, ‘He’s so long!’”. The name stayed and the title became referential in other ways. “I also made the connection that it describes the three farmers in Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox: Boggis, Bunce, and Bean,” guitarist and vocalist George Ellerby adds.

Ain’t, completed by bassist Isaac Griffiths (also in False Futures and hardcore band Rotten Luck), and Joe Lockstone on drums, began with something as unassuming as a pair of shoes. While some of the members connected through overlapping university friendships, the idea to start a band took root one night at London’s Exmouth Arms pub. ”I’d been admiring George’s shoes all evening when we first met,” Randall recalls of Ellerby’s Doc Martens. Soon after, they bonded over shared obsessions of Smashing Pumpkins and quieter 90s bands that time nearly forgot. Their quiet-loud dynamics nod to those influences, blending the urgency of Fugazi with the hush of Bedhead and Duster, once overlooked names now experiencing a renaissance online.

Released through Fear of Missing Out Records that championed cult 90s outfit Duvet and newcomers like TTSSFU, “Long Short Round” arrives with a music video that reflects Aint’s nostalgic influences. Directed by Ellerby and pieced together from Lockstone’s camcorder footage, including live performances of the band, the video for “Long Short Round” feels like a lost tape. Darch wanders through night vision haze, her eyes aglow, as spiders, flowers, and crows flicker across the screen. Influenced by found footage films like The Blair Witch Project and fan-made videos they watched of their favourite bands, Ellerby calls it “weirdly esoteric and full of symbolism.” Filmed at 1 a.m. in Peckham Rye Park after a Rough Trade show in London, the shoot folds the band’s twin fascinations with film and music into something haunting.

With a growing collection of songs and plans for a debut album ahead, Ain’t prove that the fringes of popular culture still have weight, warmth, and relevance. Rather than simply imitating the 90s underground, they’re helping carry it forward into something unmistakably their own.