The Pack A.D. “Rocket”
The Pack A.D.’s latest video for “Rocket” puts them in a post-apocalyptic world, somewhere out in the desert. The duo appear to be against each other, running in separate packs. One by one, the competition is knocked out until only the band mates are left, but the roles their playing aren’t ones of friends. In the end, there’s no more crowbar, swords, or lazer guns. All that’s left is the two charging at each other. One transforms into a golden panther, while the other becomes a rocket. The two collide and all we’re left with is a golden cloud.
Hot Sugar “The Forest Nymph that Lives Behind The School”
Hot Sugar’s latest video for “The Forest Nymph that Lives Behind The School” is his way of responding to the naked male form being barred from internet sites even when it is depicted tastefully in a work of art. The video follows a lonely young boy who goes to school, then goes home, and repeats the process without any social interaction. Every day on the way home he passes a forest. It catches his curiosity, but he never goes in. Then one day, he’s had enough. He’s going into the woods. There he finds a forest nymph in all her glory, akin to something you’d see in art, such as The Wood Nymph by William Knight Keeling. Hot Sugar argues that the naked body is a person in their purest form. He’s right. If the only time we were naked was to have sex I could understand arguing that nudity is sexual. It certainly can be, and perhaps in this video it is. However, that isn’t always the case. When the boy first spots the nymph he’s taken aback. As a boy, he’s probably never seen a naked woman in the flesh before. While he may be experiencing sexual desires, his face doesn’t show that. He’s in awe. And it makes sense, she does have a nice figure. The only sexual part of the video is when he feels her breasts. But here again, it doesn’t have to be sexual. When one has never felt a breast but wanted to, they often wonder what it feels like. Oh yes, if you’re at work, don’t watch this video. Wait til you’re on your own time.
The Magician featuring Years & Years “Sunglight”
The Magician and Years & Years have teamed up for a new single “Sunlight” to be released September 28th. The video features a beach scene. We close in on an overweight man in a speedo, wearing socks and sandals. Everything about him screams socially unacceptable. Yet, he stands up and starts walking. He makes his way in between some twins fighting, steps on a sandcastle a boy is building, and generally just makes a b-line for his destination. But as he walks past he seems to bring joy to people. The twins stop arguing. The sandcastle he knocks down is nothing compared to the sand castle that is magically built in its place, and even stepping on some blue lotion causes it to squirt onto the sand in a smiley face pattern. The whole beach is alive as though it were a party, and the source were the large man. He finally walks out onto the water, literally walking on the water, and takes off up to the sky. That would be some day at the beach.
Korn “Hater”
Korn’s latest single and video “Hater” have to do with bullying. The video features fans in videos explaining how they’ve been bullied. It also shows things like guns, and a bottle a pills, and someone cutting themselves, among other ways that people deal with being bullied. Korn’s lead singer Jonathan Davis was himself bullied as a child, so he probably experienced some of the things that the testimonials speak of. He’s featured in the video, but behind a latex sheet. You see him pushing through to perform but he can’t break it. It coincides with the description of feeling trapped by the bullies and what they do, the feelings you have and how no one will listen or validate your existence. Some people have decided to give up their own lives as a result. This is Korn’s way of telling people not to give up. As the video says in the end, it’s ok to be different. It’s ok to be who you are. Don’t let other people make you feel bad for being you.
HAIM featuring A$AP Ferg “My Song 5”
HAIM’s latest single is “My Song 5” and features A$AP Ferg. The video features the band and rapper, as well as other cameos. The video centers around a talk show in the style of Jerry Springer called The Dallas Murphy Show. Murphy is portrayed by SNL comic Vanessa Bayer. Guests on the show are a woman who has a phobia of cotton balls, a woman who is in love with her cat, a man who’s girlfriend has a girlfriend, a woman who is into mimes, and other strange tales. These roles among others are filled by HAIM, Ferg, Kesha, Big Sean, Grimes, Ezra Koenig, Ariel Rechtshaid, and HAIM’s parents. The track has a good flow, and the oddities of seeing stars as quirky people is nice, too. Well play video, HAIM. Very well played.
