October 2009: The Lookie Loos, The Mint Chicks, The Rabble, These Four Walls, Tourist, Trigger Theory, We Are Romans, Young Sid

Triangles, a tribute to Ray, the bad city, aerial antics, garage subversion, overhead projections, and a man and his town.

The Lookie Loos “What You Cryin’ For”

https://vimeo.com/9265725

Here’s another video that looks like it’s some sort of CGI animation of triangles, but was actually created using stop-motion filming of wooden blocks. The band perform their quirky indie pop-rock against the background of triangles, sometimes arranged in orderly forms, other times scattered in a chaotic manner. A bit like love.

Director: Luke McPake
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

The Mint Chicks “She’s a Mod”

“She’s a Mod” is a weird song because it’s about a guy complaining that he’s trying to win a girl’s affection by buying her clothes, but – annoyingly – she keeps changing her look all the time. The Mint Chicks version of the song – which was part of Ray Columbus and the Invaders’ investiture into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame – is faithful to the original. Even Double J & Twice the T had something new to add with their “She’s a Mod/Mod Rap” in 1989. The Mint Chicks’ video was taken from their performance at the New Zealand Music Awards in 2009, which takes inspiration from teen pop shows of the 1960s, complete with go-go dancers. It’s a deadpan performance, with a few shots of the dudes in suits backstage with the ageing Invaders.

Director: Mitchell Hawkes
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

The Rabble “Blood & Whiskey”

Hibiscus Coast punks The Rabble have more shoutalong fun with “Blood and Whiskey”. The video uses the power of green screen to put the band in a dystopian landscape, made up of black and white photo of Auckland. And by now, it seems that the platforms at the old train station are a prime location for depicting urban decay.

Director: Anthony Plant
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

These Four Walls “Lay It Out”

These Four Walls have considerably matured from the very angry young men of “Walk Away”. “Lay It Out” is a decent rock single, with a very nicely shot video. It’s set in a church, with the band delivering just the right amount of drama. They’re joined by two aerial silk performers, who give really elegant performances, a man and a woman and their red silks against a black background.

Director: James Solomon

Tourist “A Heart Expecting More” – missing

“A Heart Expecting More” was the last of Tourist’s six funded videos. And that’s pretty much it. After this song, the band took a break and came back with a new line-up and a new single in 2010, but seems to have been it for them.

Director: David Paul
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

Trigger Theory “Better Days”

The YouTube comments for this song are hilarious, mainly from guys who highly object to a punk-pop band making music that might appeal to teenage girls, like that’s somehow a bad thing. “Better Days” is lively punk-pop, and the video sets the band in a suburban garage (that doesn’t match the house exterior at the beginning). There’s loads of energy, but maybe they haven’t quite got the same rock star charisma that groups like Goodnight Nurse, or Rubicon had in years prior.

Director: Ivan Slavov, Daniel Strang

We Are Romans “Draw the Lines”

I was getting a really strong Christian rock vibe from We Are Romans, and it looks like they were indeed part of that scene. Maybe it’s just how the lead singer look like a youth pastor. Anyway. “Draw the Lines” is a really catchy but full-on electronic track, a song that could have done with a bit of restraint in places and some thought given to dynamics. The video has the band performing with geometric shapes projected on them ostensibly with an overhead projector. It’s all going well, but at the end a random girl comes on to energetically dance in front of the projector. Who is she? Why is she doofing it up so intensely? And do the song lyrics really say “Break out and set these commas free”?

Director: Guy Tichborne

Young Sid “Made”

How’s this for the video concept? The camera starts with an extreme closeup of Young Sid’s face, before slowly zooming out, all in one take, revealing him to be sitting in the Otara Town Centre. His lip-sync isn’t perfect, but that isn’t the point. It’s Sid in his town. The video looks to have been shot after hours, with all the shops shut. The only other sign of human life are a couple of guys who come along in the distance, one of which looks through a rubbish bin, maybe gathering cans. It’s different from the usual type of video that Young Sid makes, and his has confused a few of his fans. But it works – it’s the comfort of the home town.

Director: Tim van Dammen
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

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