“I hit the sidewalk, and this is how it starts….”

Young the Giant‘s relationship with singles thus far has been anachronistic and weird. 2011 saw the band have a huge radio hit in Cough Syrup – a song they’ve had since 2008, when they were known as The Jakes. They’ve now followed that up with Apartment, a song that was not only already a single back in 2010, but already had a video made for its UK release. Exactly why they’ve gone this route is anyone’s guess, but if it means they keep putting out videos that are as good as this, they can release music from their first cassette demo for all I care.

A birthday is being celebrated here, with some friends waking up a mate before dragging him outside to a van full of his bestfriends as they go to take a roadtrip. The driving and location sequences are beautifully shot, using a mix of HD and click-and-shoot camera work to bring a somewhat old-fashioned feel to these parts of the video. Interspersed with this is footage of vocalist Sameer Gadhia, lying down in the dirt and apathetically miming along to the lyrics. It presents a great contrast from the blissful endless-summer vibe that the other footage gives, and will leave you guess up until near the end exactly how the two are connected. You’re probably thinking that it’s going to end badly, but I can assure that, without any spoilers, it’s a happy ending. Well, I think so at least.