Pusha-T-Untouchable

Weekly video roundup

It’s video roundup time! Once again, Howl And Echoes are coming in hot with the freshest, most eyeball stimulating music videos to be dropped by the artists you love and some of the artists you don’t know you love yet, of this week. We do all the dirty work and herd them all into one convenient web-based location for you to enjoy every Friday so that you don’t have to. Have yourself a good old gander at the latest offerings from:

Cub Sport – Only Friend

Having previously scooped up Australian Video of the Year honours from Channel V, Brisbane band Cub Sport know exactly what goes into the making of a good music video. This one accompanies their brand new single Only Friend, a prelude to their forthcoming album This Is Our Vice.

Directed by Joe Agius, from one of our other favourite Brisbane bands The Creases, the video delves into the seldom-touched themes of anxiety and depression. The song features a haunting synthy build up to a gorgeous chorus, the music video featuring the four members of the band stuck in the middle of a party full of revellers, highlighting the awful feeling of isolation even in the most celebratory of circumstances that is such a largely overlooked aspect of anxiety and depression.

Shot beautifully lo-fi, with all the fuzz of a well-worn VHS, and exploiting some heavy neon pinks and blues, the clip is visually fantastic (and features plenty of cameos from members of The Creases too). A nifty taste of their new album, which drops March the 4th next year.

Big White – Dinosaur City

Sticking with the lo-fi vibes for this one is the latest single from Big White: Dinosaur City. The track itself sounds like Robert Smith fronting an Australian new wave band from the 80s (a sound as outrageously good as you’d imagine) and the chorus will have you in a death grip.

The video makes the above one by Cub Sport look as thought it was 1080p, it’s a VHS bleed and so everything is just melting on the screen nice and warmly. There may be no velociraptors of any description but the video for Dinosaur City does feature the band running through what looks like a cracker of a night out on the town with swings in the park and a whole lot of alleyway dancing. It’s a feelgood clip for the summer and the track is an absolute standout.

Also in the spirit of the 80s, Dinosaur City is being released as part of a limited edition 7″ paired with a B-side of the Japanese version of their previous single You Know I Love You. You know we love you too Big White.

Moses Gunn Collective – Hole In The Wall

Having released their debut LP Mercy Mountain earlier in 2015, psychedelic Brisbane legends Moses Gunn Collective have been riding a wave of roundly-deserved critical acclaim to back up the tsunami of hype that preceded that record. They’ve now released their third single from the album, Hole In The Wall and a video to go along with it.

It’s as summery a track as you’re going to get, the mellowed out and breezy psych rock vibes taking your ears for a blissful ride. The clip was filmed on a sunny afternoon in a field just perfect for rolling around in. It features frontman Aidan Moore in all white everything, having an absolute whale of a time playing guitar in a paddock as the sun goes down and copping a glitter shower to the face amongst other activities. It’s pure bliss on the eyes and the ears.

Editors – Ocean Of Night

The Staffordshire rock band came back with an absolute bang in 2015 with the release of their long-awaited fifth studio album In Dream. The latest single from that album, which stormed all the way to the top five of the UK charts, is Ocean Of Night. One of  three tracks on the album to feature the vocal assistance of Rachel Goswell, the sparkly little piano melody will hook you from the beginning, the song burning slowly around the ghostly chamber vocals of frontman Tom Smith before an absolutely mammoth chorus.

The video, shot in a warm black and white, is comprised of footage both backstage and on from a sold out show the band threw on at Dublin Olympia. Stunningly shot, it’s as uplifting as the track itself and the reactions of the crowd are a ringing endorsement of Editors’ continued position at the forefront of modern rock.

CHVRCHES – Empty Threat

September saw the release of Scottish synth pop trio CHVRCHES sophomore LP Every Open Eye, a record that built to skyscraper heights off of an already rock solid debut and one that has won over an enormous swathe of fans both old and new. The latest single and video to be released from that effort is Empty Threat. 

Driving at 100 miles an hour, elating the listener to brand new heights and generally just being an absolute stomper of a dance anthem, the video for Empty Threat features firepower frontwoman Lauren Mayberry on a punked out road trip with a water park as the end destination, the safety pins and endless black juxtaposed nicely with the summer sun.

Catch CHVRCHES in Australia when they touch down here to headline Laneway and play some (already very sold out) sideshows.

Pusha T – Untouchable

President Pusha is in the house. The newly coronated overlord of GOOD Music recently announced a double drop of albums to cap off 2015 with Darkest Before Dawn and then again in mid-2016 with the long, looong-anticipated King Push. His latest single Untouchable is notable for its sampling of a lesser known verse from The Notorious B.I.G. (from the 1995 cut by Pudgee Tha Phat Bastard Think Big).

The lyrics over the minimalistic backbeat are just stupendous, Pusha calling out professional piece of shit Donald Trump in deliciously profane fashion as well as comparing himself to Tony Montana and U2 (with The Edge) in the same breath. But mainly, according to Untouchable, Pusha T is here to chew gum and sell drugs, and he’s all out of gum.

The video features Pusha riding around some tough looking streets in the night, living fearlessly because he’s King Push, President of Everything and he does exactly what he wants at all times. It’s a cracker of a clip and we’re grateful to our ruler for his generous spacing between future albums.

Seth Sentry – Fake Champagne

 

Seth Sentry has had one hell of a year. After releasing Strange New Pasthe went on an incredible fifty date tour of Australia, toured across Europe, and just last night he went home with the ARIA Award for Best Urban Album.

He’s slated to perform at Falls Festival across the new year, but first comes the video for Fake Champagne, created using footage compiled throughout this year’s relentless tour schedule. The really nicely shot clips blends live gigs with highway stops, snowy landscapes, early morning flights and all sorts of ridiculous antics.

Lyrically, this was one of my favourite tracks on the album. A bitter judgement of trying to live a reflective and self-aware life while being surrounded by fake friends and what we assume to be both literal and figurative “fake champagne”. We hear that.