Wellington purveyors of surf punk D-Super move from the suburban minefield of “We Ride Tonight” into a strange world of plus signs and aggro.
The band are playing in a studio gridded out with plus signs, like a grid for added CGI animation over the top. It’s like a lofi version of the video for Tom Jones and the Cardigan’s 1999 cover of “Burning Down the House”. Only instead of having slick CGI figures dancing with the band, they give each other the bash.
As the song starts, the band seem to tense. It’s like a group whose spent 18 months on the road and everyone is thoroughly sick of everyone else, held together only by a contractually mandated appearance. Something’s got to give.
There’s shoving, evil stares and simmering tension before it suddenly erupts. The guitarist and bass player lay into each other. The drummer joins in the aggro, seeming both like he’s trying to break it up and join in. The keyboard player finally jumps on top of everyone. What a disaster.
But the show must go on. The band return to their instruments and continue the song, playing with bruised and bloody faces.
I was going to say I was sure the violence was all done for the video, but there were glorious stories about fisticuffs within Luke the keyboard player’s other band, Paselode. I’m sure there’s also a metaphor in here about the sacrifice needed to survive in the world of rock; you get bashed up but you keep on playing.
Best bit: the drummer’s dramatic final hit of the drums when he gives up and joins in the brawl.
Next… the horse of freedom.