Joywave “Destruction”
In their video for “Destruction”, Joywave give us a story of technology surpassing man’s ability in a way that man cannot surpass God’s. Actually, it’s just a video of a small town MP3 player that becomes the new Kanye West. Joywave hold tryouts, because it’s time to add something new to the band. What they go with is an MP3 player which quickly is dubbed the greatest musician ever, or something ridiculous like that. We watch as the awesome power group enjoys immediate success, then begins to quarrel and eventually comes undone. While the band just tries to get rest for their next show, the MP3 player engages in wild threesomes and showboating. As a result, the band is left in the dust. They break up. They pick up regular jobs that slowly kill an artist’s soul. What happens to the MP3 player? An overdose, of course. That which seeks to destroy is bound to destroy itself.
Pearl Lion “Alpha4”
What really sold me on “Alpha4” by Pearl Lion is the guitar. That should come as no surprise since Pearl Lion is the musical moniker or Saturday Night Live guitarist Jared Scharff. What really sold me on the video for “Alpha4” is when the cartoon robot Alpha4 heads into a local mart, he picks up a 12 pack of condoms in the candy aisle along with some Red Vines. He then goes to the counter where he places the condoms down first, then drops the Red Vines on top of them. As a cashier, when I’m not watching and writing about music videos, I can say this happens a lot. For some reason when a person enters to buy condoms but they feel weird about it, they also grab some candy and cover the condoms up with them on the counter. So it’s great to know that the same would hold true for what is supposed to be a generic robot version of Mega Man. The rest of the video shows our robot friend in a typical Los Angeles day. He heads to the laundromat, he hits up a bar, he meets a bartender who’s into him, he gets laughed at, searches for some place he can be accepted, and joins a band with Jared and a drumming octopus. This should be a Who Framed Roger Rabbit? type show where cartoons, or video game characters, intermingle with us real folk.
Miike Snow “Genghis Khan”
Miike Snow’s latest endeavor into music videos is for their song “Genghis Khan”. The song is about getting a little too obsessive with a person you love, in the sense that the singer of said song proclaims to get a little 11th century Mongolian King of Kings and conqueror of lands pre-medievil when simply thinking about the person they want to bed making whoopie with someone else. And what better way to visually portray that than to spoof James Bond films. That’s right, we start in an evil lair where our Faux-Bond is captured by some Faux-Bond Villain. This villain is ready to kill the spy, but in a twist of fate, evil organizations follow labor laws. It’s clocking out time, so our super villain goes home to his wife and kids. He’s not happy. He thinks about the hero all night, and the next day decides to let him go. Faux-Bond can’t leave. This is a union meant to be. The two go into a wonderful dance routine, there’s a lot of dancing in this video for an action flick, and go on to have a wonderful life together. For some reason, they keep the kids. But more importantly, everyone is happy. Well, except for the villain’s ex who, “Get(s) a little bit Genghis Khan” because she doesn’t want her ex to “Get it on with anyone else but” her.
Saintseneca “Sleeper Hold”
If you like pencil drawing, then “Sleeper Hold” the video by Saintseneca might be for you. We follow a helicopter crash,and an angel who would rather be doing other things. Though she doesn’t head for Vegas, she does make her way downtown. She also doesn’t hide the fact that she’s an angel. Everyone can see her wings. Things go according to her plan until she stops to grab a bite from a dumpster in an alley. This is where a manticore type being with wings comes after her. She takes flight and books it, but this manticore catches her and drags her away. It looks like she has some explaining to do. I’m very impressed by the animation in this video, particularly with how much of it is black. I took a drawing class once in college, and we came to a section where we had to draw wine glasses in front of black backdrops. I though my wrist was going to lock up forever. So, to know that Sara Drake does this kind of thing for a living (she’s the animator of the video) I have to say God bless her wrist.
M. Ward “Girl from Conejo Valley”
M. Ward’s song “Girl from Conejo Valley” is about his ex-girlfriend, the girl from Conejo Valley, and all the fellows who she didn’t used to know but knows now. The video introduces us to these new found “friends” in a Wes Anderson sort of way. Let’s just say, they’re not exactly the stand up guys you want to think about in terms of “I wasn’t good enough for her, but these guys are”. What really adds charm to this video is the images of Conejo Valley. I’d like to hike up any of those mountains. It just looks beautiful. So, if like me, you can’t get anywhere near Conejo Valley, or some similar place, this weekend, just remember that your ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend isn’t from Conejo Valley dating some shady characters. Or maybe you’re going through something like that. In which case, screw that person. Go have a great weekend without them.
