The 1975 “Robbers”
Continuing strong with their self-titled debut album, The 1975 latest single is “Robbers”. The video features a young couple in reckless love. For most of the video they spend time together amidst skateboarding, drinking booze, and getting high. Sure, there’s the occasional trip to the movie theater, but they’re not taking life very seriously. In fact, their source of income seems to be illegal activities. The gentleman in the couple gets himself a gun, and decides to point it at his lady love. Naturally, she doesn’t take kindly to that. They go on to try and rob a convenience store. We hear gunfire and then our couple come running out to the best of their abilities. You see, our happy gunsman has been shot himself. No word on if anyone else is hurt. His friends take him back to their safe house where they patch him together somehow. And just like that, he’s ready to have sex and party again. While I can’t say that there is a moral of don’t commit robberies in this video, I find it doesn’t promote the act either. In fact, if anything, it gives a glimpse of maybe what these two will remember as their happiest moments together. Eventually somebody is dying or going to jail.
Hudson Taylor “Battles”
Ireland’s pop-folk pairing Hudson Taylor have a new single “Battles”. The video features a group of four girls who have used paper, paint, and other colorful adornments to dress themselves up. They take off to go “play” in the woods armed with pots, and sticks, and imagination. They run into another group of girls who are dressed in more earthy colors and have used feathers and the like to adorn themselves. A battle ensues pitting one tribe against another, and while no one seems to get hurt you can see that these girls don’t like each other. Interesting in enough, the battle stops and all eyes turn towards the camera, or just above it. Perhaps they’ve only been caught by a grownup and are now in trouble. Or maybe something even more grand is happening. It’s hard to say, but then again so is the reason that they are fighting to begin with.
Hannah Georgas “Enemies”
Canadian Hannah Georgas last released an album in 2012 called Hannah Georgas. This week she released a video for “Enemies” off the album. The video follows a middle aged man and his greyhound. At the start, the man is sitting on the edge of his bed smoking. He looks troubled as he gets up and heads to the bathroom. He pulls out a roll of hundred dollar bills from a prescription bottle and makes his way to his greyhound. Together they pile into his car and head on down to the vets office. He has his dog checked out for health. Having a clean bill, they pile back into the car and head to the greyhound track. Here he hands his dog off, and wearily places a bet. Remarkably his dog wins, and rather than run and go get the money he waits enthusiastically for his dog. At this point you may feel that this is guy is a total scumbag. I’m agreeing with you if that’s the case, but I do find that he really cares for his dog. The first thing he does is get down and give the pooch a hug and a kiss. It’s not one of those “we’re gonna make millions off you running” moments. It’s more like he’s sorry and proud at the same time. The dog doesn’t seemed phased, but who knows, maybe there is a feeling of betrayal here.
A Million Billion Dying Suns “Hey Man”
Off of their EP Strawberry we get A Million Billion Dying Suns and their video for “Hey Man”. This video could be taken as the worst day in the life of a hipster. Our protagonist is just out for a bike ride with his handle bar mustache, and stylish good looks. When he reaches his destination he parks his bicycle and seeing a pair of young women walking by leans up against a motorcycle. This tactic proves an error on two counts. First, the ladies don’t go for it. Second, the bikers see this and they are not amused. Head on to the back alley and you can watch the pair beat our hipster unconscious and steal his bike. He comes to when a wizard, yes a wizard, pokes him in the head. He offers to help him up before punching him in the face. A gang of wizards appears and continue to beat him as one of them steal his wallet. He heads of running and finds himself indoors. There are women here in animal masks, but the bad events of the day don’t deter our hero from looking for love. There’s a particular beauty in a frog mask that catches his attention. Approaching her, she removes the mask to demonstrate that she has a lizard-like complexion and fanged teeth. She bites him square on the neck. A man comes running out from behind with a large mallet. This sends our hero into a frenzy by which he makes for a door that leads to water. He literally jumps through and finds himself under water. Some of the women come a chasing, and the man with the mallet only sans mallet. Eventually our man with the very bad, awful, horrible day awakens on the side of the street in front of a house with a party going on. He gets up, walks into the house, and sees that there are some women wearing animal masks. This makes him uneasy, particularly when he sees the frog mask. The woman wearing it lifts the masks and gives a rude “what are you looking at” face back. This unnerves our wearisome traveler who makes for the downstairs bathroom where he collapses into the fetal position. Maybe he just drank too much. Or maybe, just maybe, he’s learned not to lean up against someone’s motorcycle. All of Middle Earth will make you pay.
Hercules & Love Affair featuring John Grant “I Try to Talk to You”
As we await the release of their next album on May 26th called The Feast of the Broken Heart, we get the video for Hercules & Love Affair’s “I Try to Talk to You” featuring John Grant. The video opens with a man standing shirtless and staring into the mirror. He seems unhappy and lost in the black and white color of the footage. His partner shows up and creatively with precision helps to dress him. The two then engage in some great choreography as they make their way out of the bedroom into the kitchen and back. Once in the bedroom, the shirt comes back off. A strobe effect kicks in as the passion ensues. I’m sure I’m not going out on a limb when I gather they’re having sex. Once it’s all done, we see the man standing shirtless and staring solemnly into the mirror again. There are two ways I look at this. The first is that this man is sad. He’s struggling with depression and maybe other problems. His partner comes in and tries to make him feel better. There’s this graceful dance that leads to the kitchen and back, and all the emotion leads to them becoming passionate. Only, when it’s all over with the first man goes back into his lost phase. It’s as though the second man is trying to talk to the first only to no end. The other story here could be that the shirtless man tries to talk to his partner, but constantly finds himself alone. The story then plays out as the way he thinks it should be. That his partner should come in and dress him, complete his look in a way. They then have this graceful exchange of body movement that leads back into the bedroom where they come together soul and body, only that never happens. He finds himself alone staring into a mirror because he tries talking to his love, but his words have no weight.
