Evolver “Stars”

2004-evolver-starsNot to be confused with Revolver, Evolver were a four-piece indie rock band from Dunedin. “Stars” is a twee pop tune. It was the band’s only funded video (they split up soon after) but it’s very ambitious.

The video opens with black and white footage of an elegant lady riding in a towncar at night, and she’s soon joined by three men in fedoras. I think this is supposed to present the 1920s, but they end up in a very modern lift where the elegant lady pushes a mysterious button with a spiral insignia. (Actually, it just looks like someone put a sticker over the emergency stop button, but let’s ignore that.)

With a flash, this transports the quartet to a diner in the 1950s and/or 1960s. It’s very obviously been filmed at a Burger King, with the extras seemingly kitted out in the “1950s – 1960s” rack of the local costume hire place. This is an alternate reality where a greaser from the mid-1950s, a go-go dancer from the mid-1960s and a long-haired hippy from the late ’60s all hang out together, at Burger King. This can only mean there must be a rip in the delicate fabric of the space-time continuum.

The quartet enter the lift again and this time they have ended up in a punk/goth/new wave world. The lead singer Emmanuelle looks far too cheerful to really pull of the angry punk/miserable goth hybrid style she’s got going. But hey, everyone’s having a good time dancing in the punk/goth/new wave club!

So what’s the next step? A journey forward in time to the strange future world of 2014? No, they’re going into space, to a strange world of Easter Island statues, conveyor belts, shimmery lipstick for men, and a triangular speaker stack that looks like a minimalist Christmas tree.

Up to this point, the video was a fairly ordinary low-budget music video. But the crazy future space world is so over the top and the band look so awkward that it transcends everything and just becomes a camp pleasure. Thank you, Evolver, for giving us this futuristic gift.

Best bit: the sleazy greaser, macking on all the ladies.

Director: Neil Bond

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