Imagine Dragons “Shots”
Imagine Dragons pay homage to artist Tim Cantor in their video for “Shots”. If you have no idea who Tim Cantor is, take a moment to google his work. The band find themselves in versions of Cantor’s work where the backgrounds are computer generated, but the people are dressed as the originals have them. We also have one of those eternal world transitions going on. It reminds me of the video where the camera starts out at a very wide pan of the universe. It zooms in at increments of 10 times until we see the Earth, then close in on it, down to a city, to a person or leaf, all the way down to the subatomic level. It basically shows there is no beginning or end to size. You can travel forever one way or the other. Well, the video does a similar thing whereby we transition from one painting to the next by constantly shifting. You may see a guitarist rocking away, but then he’s inside a snowglobe that someone is holding. You get the drift.
The Juliana Hatfield Three “If Only We Were Dogs”
If Only We Were Dogs by The Juliana Hatfield Three from American Laundromat Records on Vimeo.
The Juliana Hatfield Three take their video for “If Only We Were Dogs” quite literally. Juliana stars as a human who is treated like a dog. She sleeps in a cage in the corner of the bedroom. In the morning, she’s let out so she can stretch and move around. She begs for food at the breakfast table, and as one owner says no the other sneaks her some sausages. For some reason, she wants a bra as a chew toy. But I digress, she even mimics a dog down to the rolling around in something smelly. She then gets a bath where she seems absolutely miserable, which is the kicker of the whole video. She never smiles, or frowns. She mostly displays her emotions with her eyes and the energy level. If she’s happy, she’s more animated. When she’s not, she just sits there moping. Truthfully, if we were dogs we’d probably treat ourselves better.
Doomtree “Final Boss”
When the term “Final Boss” comes to mind, I think of the ultimate enemy in a video game. It’s the last character you have to defeat often so the good guys win. It’s also the fight that’s going to be the hardest.Doomtree’s take on it for their video for “Final Boss” is quite different. It’s a dinner party set for four. It’s quite an extravagant dinner party for such a small group. Each guest has their own gourmet meal. There is plenty of red wine and champagne to go around. As the guests eat, the host appears from the background and kills them off one by one. A slit throat, suffocation with a plastic bag, bludgeoning with a hammer, and a knife through the back are all they ways you can leave this party. Afterwards, it becomes cleanup time. Like a video game, where dying means you get another chance, the table is set again and all four guests find themselves sitting at the table. Perhaps this is why they don’t seem to concerned as one by one the others are killed. My only concern is that there seems to be more effort in gulping down all the liquor rather than escaping when you’re the last guy alive.
Denai Moore “Blame”
Denai Moore finds herself in the back of a police car for her new video “Blame”. There’s been an accident with one person injured as a snowmobile lies on its side. There’s a small fire, but it’s not much of a concern because the location is in the middle of nowhere. There are no buildings or vegetation to catch fire. There’s even snow which means the fire doesn’t have much chance of growing. Unfortunately for Denai, the police car starts to roll away. As the frantic officer chases the car in his orange suit and snow boots banging on the rear door, Denai leans her head against the window and is lost in thought. The officer keeps running until the car is going too fast and he tumbles. The look on his face says that as the wheels turn slightly the car is about to hit someone or something. What we see next is the police car, an overturned snowmobile, an injured person, and the police officer. Welcome to the continuous time loop where you relive a tragedy without being able to stop it.
Black Taxi “Take Off the Edge”
Black Taxi’s video for “Take Off the Edge” is quite the visual attraction. The characters are humans but have intricately shaped boxes for heads. The eyes and mouths are animated, as are some other aspects reminding this writer of The Mask starring Jim Carrey. It starts off with a man in a suit sitting nervously on his couch. As the doorbell rings, he gets excited. He throws the turkey in the oven, grabs some breath freshener and opens the door. This is how every date should go. There’s dancing, sword fighting, throwing food into your dates mouth, and the pulling out of the sofa bed to get onto the love making. There’s not time for removing your clothes here. Just jump right on her. There are sparks flying as the two really seem to have a connection. When it’s over, the sofa swallows them up bed and all. The cushions magically appear back in the proper place. What comes creeping out from under the cushions? The baby! Mazel tov!
