Update: Sad Planets, a New Indie Rock Band Featuring Pat Carney of the Black Keys, Releases a New Music Video

Update: Earlier today, Sad Planets, the indie rock band featuring John Petkovic (Cobra Verde, Sweet Apple, Guided by Voices, Death of Samantha) and Patrick Carney (Black Keys) released a video for "Just Landed," a song from Sad Planets' debut album, Akron, Ohio.

The video focuses on a spaceman (Petkovic) who lands in Los Angeles and proceeds to wander the streets of L.A. and meet a space girl (played by Chelsea Debo, a Los Angeles actor who’s appeared in a films and videos, including Lana Del Rey's "Love").

A friend of Petkovic’s, Dinosaur Jr. guitarist J Mascis dropped in when the band was recording in Akron to play lead guitar on the tune.

"J grabbed my guitar and just started playing along, so we hit record," says Petkovic, who also plays with Mascis in the band Sweet Apple, in a press release about the music video. "It sums up the entire process... we would come up with chords and songs on the spot."

Original Post 2/19/2019: A few years ago, Cobra Verde/Death of Samantha/Sweet Apple singer John Petkovic began working with Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney on a project they dubbed Sad Planets.

The group will release its long-awaited debut, Akron, Ohio, on April 19. It features a guest appearance by J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.), who also plays with Petkovic in Sweet Apple. Local photographer Chad Cochran took the photo that the band uses for the album cover, and Plain Dealer reporter Laura DeMarco shot the band's press photo that finds the duo standing in front of the Akron Civic Theatre.

The retro-leaning first single, “Not of This World,” a song the band describes as “psychedelic trash,” just came out today. In addition to playing drums on the album, Carney also plays synthesizers and other instruments. Petkovic does all the vocals and adds layers of guitars to the album. Songs such as "City Ghosts" and "Disappearing" make references to Akron.

"When Patrick asked if I wanted to come to Akron to jam with him in the studio," says Petkovic in a press release about the album, "I saw it as a chance to work with a longtime friend, but also an opportunity to reconnect with Akron in a very different way."

The two met in 1999 at the Akron Art Museum. They discovered they shared a friend — Carney’s late uncle, Ralph Carney, who had recorded with Cobra Verde — and they became friends at that point.