Salmonella Dub “Nu Steppa”

2003-salmonella-dub-nu-steppaGood animated music videos are hard, but Salmonella Dub always manage to get it right. “Nu Steppa” was co-directed by Ash Bolland and Steve Scott, with Scott previously having co-directed by the group’s videos “Problems” and “Platetechtonics (Fartyboom)”.

This time the action takes place away from the wilderness of the previous videos. It’s set in the big city, drawn in black and white and red all over.

At first things seem pretty ordinary. There are lots of scenes of traffic flow, to the point where it’s starting to look like traffic management simulation software. But then – uh oh – suddenly alien robot monsters beam down and cause havoc. Alright!

To the intense bassy rhythm of the music, the robot monsters stomp down the streets, crushing cars underfoot. The aliens don’t seem especially malicious. It’s more like they’re running along some streets that just happen to have all these random little things in the way – just like a human wouldn’t give much thought to (or even notice) stepping on an ant as they walked along.

Oh, but then things get mean. The aliens stop stomping and start using their destructor beams, smashing up remaining cars, as well as the surrounding skyscrapers. It’s a very neat destruction, with each building neatly shattered in turn. Then it’s the turn for a giant white dome of destruction to embrace the city and destroy everything left.

It’s really nicely animated video, with incredible detail. The song lyrics are all about how mighty Salmonella Dub’s music is, so the video is using the robot aliens as a metaphor. Yeah, at their peak, Salmonella Dub were as kick-arse as crazy robot aliens.

Best bit: the very detailed engine of an upturned car.

Directors: Ash Bolland, Steve Scott
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… it’s the remix.