Watch This If You Dare: The Jungle Giants – “I am What You Want Me to be”
“I am a man, I am a star, I am here, I am what you want…”
And now, for the latest in Australian indie pop’s “floral shirt” epidemic, we head to Brisbane to watch the new video from fresh-faced twats The Jungle Giants. Floral shirters are looking to destroy the good name of indie pop in this country set by wonderful acts like The Lucksmiths and The Bank Holidays, replacing it with a nasty crew of Triple J-baiting gen-y LCDs (that’s Lowest Common Denominator, not a television issue at hand) that were not aware that music existed prior to Two Door Cinema Club. You know the type. I don’t need to elaborate much further. And before you cry foul over my love of Cub Scouts, I can guaran-damn-tee that Tim Nelson has more songwriting abilities in the dimples in his left cheek than the rest of these fucks have in their entire 45-kilos-s0aking-wet bodies. Now that we have that out of the way, let’s zero in on the video itself.
You’re probably thinking that I’m picking on the poor, defenseless Jungle Giants just because I think their music is uninspired shit. Sure, it’s kind of true, but that doesn’t mean the video for I am What You Want Me to Be isn’t already a piece of shit on its own accord. Really, this thing deserves credit unto itself. The thing is a complete eyesore, from the jolting cuts to the glarey colour scheme – for all the vacuous prettiness of the band themselves, they sure know to make an ugly video. The part I find the most contrived, however, has to be the running text during an instrumental break. The band are playing chess – how twee! – and the text tells the viewers to do such trite things as “Listen to Grace by Jeff Buckley,” and “listen to Abbey Road stoned,” before quoting Chaplin. Fuck, that arts degree is sure as shit paying off. Christ on a bike, I can’t stand this band. That said, next month they’re playing in Sydney with two very good bands – Bloods and Bec & Ben. So head along. But don’t stick around for the headliner.
Watch This Now: Cub Scouts – “Pool!”
“There is a pool and we must go, it’s just something we need to do…”
Gosh, don’t you just love them Cub Scouts? It still blows my mind that I’m blogging about little Tim Nelson so many years after the fact – see either of my previous posts about CS – and with his crew of baby-faced bandmates, he really is going from strength to strength. Looks like we’ll finally be getting an album from this Brisvegan cats this year, and this new single is more than enough to tide me over until I’ve got an LP in my sweaty little palms.
Here, the Cubbies have teamed up yet again with the Slink It Up crew, as well as a team of gorgeous synchronized swimmers. In their best vintage trunks, the Scouts head to the titular pool themseves to go head-to-head with the pros – and, for what it’s worth, they don’t do too badly! I particularly love watching Tim and bassist Zoe Davis near the beginning, as they lie parallel to one another and trade lines. It’s simple, but ever so sweet. As with pretty much all of their videos thus far, you’re guaranteed a smile with this clip. And hey, if you’re in Sydney this weekend, they’re playing Sunday arvo at the Metro Theatre Lair with Millions. I’m hoping to pop in for a bit of a dance post-Title Fight and pre-Neil Young, so let’s see how that works out!
Watch This Now: Milhouse – “TL;DR”
“I found that comment quite funny, ROFLMAO…”
Gotta be honest, I’ve wanted to write about these dudes for awhile. What can I tell you about the seemingly-unstoppable force of positivity and pop-rock that is Milhouse? They’ve had a decidedly killer year, putting on show-stopping sets at Black Wire Records, opening for The Smith Street Band in Sydney and playing the Poison City Weekender back in September. Although they’re pushing a new EP, Thrillhouse, at the moment, their debut video is for a track from last year’s Everything’s Coming Up… as part of a competition the band won through triple j Unearthed.
Teaming up with a crew over at NIDA, the trio got to bring their tongue-in-cheek frustrations with teen-speak to life as they literally headed back to school. Although the band’s (exceptionally handsome and mega-cool) bassist, Dave Drayton, confessed to me that they didn’t think they were much chop at acting, it’s this that makes the video all the more adorable. Drayton, guitarist/vocalist Tom Elder and drummer Chris Costin are three high-school kids who are sitting an exam. Everyone else is trying to learn, but Costin is busy day-dreaming the entire exam away. These dream sequences, admittedly, are pretty damn awesome – hey, they beat sitting any boring old exam, right? A huge congrats to all involved with this one – a fantastic initiative from Unearthed and just another feather in the super-posi cap of Milhouse! Won’t be long until these guys are the big wheels down at the cracker factory, just you wait…
Watch This Now: Dappled Cities – “Born at the Right Time”
“When I wake up showered in the morning light, I’ll know that it’s gonna be alright…”
H’oh-boyo-boyo-boy! The new Dappled Cities record is almost here. I can feel it in my waters. Their last video, Run with the Wind, was a very sharply done twist of insanity in the midst of a racetrack. This one is a little more upbeat, but no less engaging – as a matter of fact, I kind of love it. It captures the energy of the song pretty perfectly, and it’s not too demanding or twisted in concept. What you see is what you get – and it doesn’t get much more Dappled than that.
Two words, kids: PARTY. BUS. That’s right, for this little adventure the DC boys decided to rent out a bus and jam out their disco-flavoured single with a few dozen of their nearest and dearst – who all happen to be really hot twentysomethings. Naturally. A couple more cuties get on, romance sparks. You know how it goes by now. It’s been done before – most recently in Gossip‘s Men in Love video – but I’m all about the goddamn party bus. It’s a really fun reflection and visualisation of a really endearing and catchy tune. Get at it! Oh, and Lake Air is out TODAY! Yippee!
FEATURED FRIDAYS – My Favourite Video: Lindsay McDougall
Lindsay McDougall is an Australian musician and radio presenter.
He is best known as the guitarist of Frenzal Rhomb and the presenter of triple j‘s
drive-time program under the moniker The Doctor.
His favourite video is Saturday Night Palsy by T.I.S.M.
It was the first video of theirs I saw, and encapsulates their respect for the form whilst still exploring their dissatisfaction with the pop video milieu.
TISM were the ultimate irony. A disco band who hated disco; a band with a cult following who decried the love of blind cultists. They also wrote hilarious songs and had mad guitar bits.
In the clip, we see a typical 80s socialite make his way through days, and nights, of Melbourne decadence. The nightclubs, the ladies, the promiscuous abandon. He is at one with the night, and the night life. He’s at all the right parties. He makes the social pages. A regular Mr. Melbourne.
But then something begins to go wrong. Phone calls to trusted friends don’t go as they should. He laughs it off. Checks his diary. It’s Saturday night and TISM are playing. He is fresh from the shower, sprays cologne on his Adonis-like body. Arriving at the club he strolls past the plebeian masses to the front of the queue.
Then, in a moment reminiscent of Shakepeare’s Julius Caesar, he is betrayed. Told by the bouncers that he’s not welcome at the TISM gig. Ever relaxed, he shrugs this deep knife out of his back, and walks away from the crowd. Where in a moment of pure Arthur Miller, our protagonist spends the last dying seconds of the song hoisting a rope over a beam in the ceiling, and hangs himself, smiling.
As a young teenager, this spoke volumes to me. Except for the hanging thing. That shit’s dumb. If I wasn’t let into a TISM gig, I’d just cry myself to sleep or some shit.
You can catch Lindsay on triple j weekdays from 3pm.
You can also catch Lindsay playing TONIGHT at the Manning Bar in Sydney with I Exist. Doors are at 8pm and limited tickets are still available here.
The band’s latest album, Smoko at the Pet Food Factory, is also available in all good record stores now.
Watch This Now: Gotye – “Easy Way Out”
“Seventeen seconds and I’m over it, ready for the disconnect…”
He’s back! Not content with one of the best Australian albums of last year, mind-blowing animated clips and THE video of 2011, Wally de Backer has come back yet again with a new Gotye video. A collaboration with Oh Yeah Wow, whose Set Sail clip was recently featured on the blog, de Backer has nailed it yet again. Seriously, does this guy kill kittens or drown babies or something? No-one can be that good at this level of consistency. Something’s gotta be up.
Anyways, the clip seemingly focuses on the mundane daily routine, and how much it can be quite soul-destroying and exhausting. Wally plays all of the characters, going in dizzying circles similar to Kylie’s Come Into My World video – and there’s nothing wrong with that at all! There’s so much to be packed into this crazy two minutes, and there’s something new to enjoy with every view. Hell, you can get at least five views in the next 10 minutes, why not give it a go? Trust me, you’ll love every second of it.
Watch This Now: Bleeding Knees Club – “Nothing to Do”
“You never change, you’re always the same, I can’t stand the things you do…”
Hey dudes! Have a good weekend! I had a pretty insane double of SoundDave at Black Wire Records and my favourite band, Death Cab for Cutie, at the Enmore Theatre. Pretty pooped, to tell you the truth. No problem, we’ll soldier on. After all, there’s too many good videos out there! We’re kicking off this week with a 2-minute surge of sugary pop-rock power – that’s right, it’s Bleeding Knees Club.
Not content with being the reigning overlords of extended syllable choruses, the babyfaced twosome have decided to let loose in various other areas. This includes broomstick-riding, lazer-shooting, tree-ghost-killing, cape-wearing and demented-drumming-koala-destryoing. For what it’s worth, they manage to do it all pretty well, considering they’ve got roughly 110 seconds to work with. Heaps party. Heaps fun. If you like this, they’re going on tour in April. Suss it out and chuck a mosh.
Watch This Now: The Beards – “You Should Consider Having Sex with a Bearded Man”
“He’s got some food stuck in his beard, but you don’t care…”
Hey gang! Time to bring a whole new meaning to hump day, as we kick off Wednesday’s posts with something a bit outrageous, a bit rock and roll and a bit awesome. Meet The Beards. They’re four men. With beards. They play songs. About beards. That’s pretty much all there is to it. A couple of years back they made a hilarious video for their single If Your Dad Doesn’t Have a Beard, You’ve Got Two Mums, which saw the adventures of a boy escaping his oppressive, beardless dad. This time around, it’s a bit dirtier than that, as the band pay tribute to The Prodigy, rock & roll, sex and… of course… beards.
An homage to the iconic Smack My Bitch Up video, the clip is filmed from someone else’s perspective, leading to a Beards gig, a bust-up in the crowd, some drunken rowdiness and a pash with Johann Beardraven, the band’s fearless frontman. Naturally, you know what this will lead to. It’s the twists along the way, however, that are what make this video so riotously funny. Full of beardly goodness!
Good things come in threes, y’know. The first was this song getting in the Hottest 100 at number 99. The second was the announcement of their third album, Having a Beard is the New Not Having a Beard. The third is that we’ll be having the band as guests on the blog very soon, bringing back the My Favourite Video segment. Isn’t that a hoot? Stay tuned! But for now, get freaky with a beard… and watch out for a great comedic cameo!
Watch This Now: Bluejuice – “Act Yr Age”
“Why’d you wanna do it, why’d you wanna waste your time…”
Well, it’s here. Hi, by the way, sorry about the extended hiatus and whatnot, y’know how things are. Anyway, let’s talk about Bluejuice. They’ve never shyed away from an extravagant video – they’ve pretended to be a cult, cut their noses off, jumped out of planes and even learned how to jump rope. How do you top something like that to announce your imminent return?
Well, it doesn’t involve anything that’s truly crazy in theory, nor does it involve terrorising the children of Caloundra. What it does involve is a day at the park, some ice cream and a certain something catching vocalist Jake Stone‘s eyes that he simply can’t shake. Now, you’re probably one of the thousands who’ve seen this clip already and know what I’m talking about. If you’re not, though, then I’m not even going to dare spoiling it. All I can say is that Jake deserves some kind of award – Australian Of The Year at the fucking minimum.
This is a really well shot clip with a simple premise that works beautifully with the song. Probably not quite a vid that demands repeat watchings, but I’m sure you’ll figure out why momentarily.
Watch This Now: The Vasco Era – “Child Bearing Hips”
This one nearly slipped my radar completely, I’ve gotta be honest – that is, until their national tour with Papa vs. Pretty was announced last Friday. How exciting! Two of Australia’s best live bands rocking it up around the country. Having seen our boys The Vasco Era tear it up at both Goodgod Small Club and the Changing Lanes festival over the past month or two, I can vouch for their wild and exciting live show. They’ve also got a clever idea or two for their clips, and that’s where Child Bearing Hips comes into play.
At first, the contrast of the thudding rock drive of the song mixed with a girl letting her hair fly out of the car window in slow motion feels quite peculiar – where is it going, you’re bound to wonder? That opening sequence, however, is incredibly arresting and subsequently mesmerising – and it leads into a gorgeously shot tale of starcrossed lovers. I’m not entirely sure if the two main characters are Lucille and Sam, from the band’s last studio album Lucille, but whoever they are, they sure know how to speak volumes without actually saying a word. Watch this one right to the end, it’s very much worth it. Oh, and don’t forget to see the boys on tour next month!
Yes, We've Got a Video! 