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I CAN'T DECIDE IF I'M OVER CHOREOGRAPHED DANCE SEQUENCES A LA GAP ADS FEIST VIDEOS 500 DAYS OF SUMMER AND NOW THE NEW SHE AND HIM VIDEO. PLUS A NOTE ABOUT SXSW.


Posted by Hartley On Mar 12, 2010

"It's hard to be ignored".... ... ...when you have such killer bangs.

Somehow Lyle is giving me such shit about wearing a scarf AGAIN today. All the while barreling down the proverbial indie rock pacific coast highway comes another impossibly twee and completely endearing music video featuring faux-Busby Berkeley dance sequences and the guy says nothing. NOTHING. It's an unjust world we live in folks whereby the simple donning of an accessory on a brisk day can get you mentioned in the same sentence as a member of Vampire Weekend. But I digress. In the exuberant words of the incomparably doe-eyed Zooey Deschanel, "Well alright, it's ok." And you know what Zooey? Listening to your new single, "In The Sun", from She and Him's Volume 2 (out in a 2 weeks on Merge!!) I get the feeling that maybe it is "alright" and "ok." For those keeping dibs on my Facebook account I very recently added one of my favorite quotes from the French humorist/philosopher, Voltaire, who so sagely once stated many years ago that perhaps anything "too stupid to be spoken is sung." Listening to Zooey and Matt's new tune I can't help but think that Voltaire had a point. "In The Sun" is completely happy-go-lucky bubble-gum pop that marries a kind of 50's style American Graffiti/Happy Days naivete with impeccable Phil Specter(ish) Southern California flavored production from M. Ward. And let me take a moment to point out that not only does Ward look great with the mustache (ed. note: you're biting my style Matt), but for my money dude is one of the best producers working today. Yeah I said it. I'm not one to necessarily give a shit about stuff like guitar tones, but not only does the guy seem to know the perfect amount of reverb he's also a killer arranger too. Listen to the strings in this song and tell me Ward doesn't have a firm understanding of genre. Plus, he's found his perfect foil in Miss-I-Have-Been-Madly-In-Love-With-You-I-Can't-Believe-You-Married-Ben-Gibbard-But-Now-Too-Many-Indie-Boys-Are-Also-In-Love-With-You-So-I've-Moved-On-Like-Clap-Your-Hands-Say-Yeah-Fans.

But Anyways...

The video for "In The Sun" looks great and expensive and although you may think it was directed by 500 Days Of Summer's Marc Webb it wasn't. The whole high school lockers/gymnasium/library set pieces are all very "Hit Me Baby One Time," but without the moral conflict that miss Spears so expertly engendered once upon a shaved head ago. And though I'm certainly sad to see them go, I would like to offer this as the big "In The Sun" music video take-away: It's a perfect slice of media full of cartwheels and hula-hoops and overly gay dudes in Abercrombie and Fitch intentionally distressed jeans doing ballerina-like plea's but plea-se - NO MORE DANCE SEQUENCES. American Apparel has killed the GAP. Feist is vacationing somewhere living off royalty checks teaching Dominican children how to count to 4. "In The Sun" has reached the pinnacle of everything that an ironically choreographed video can be. Let this trend die in peace now. The zeitgeist thanks you.

 --- AND NOW THE OBLIGATORY SXSW DISCLAIMER ---

She and Him will be at SXSW. So will Bank Robber! Of course we have a crazy ass SXSW schedule with like 500000 shows featuring your favorite indie fags like Spoon, Frightened Rabbit, Phantogram, Wye Oak, Superchunk, Generationals, Rogue Wave, Stricken City, Besnard Lakes and so many more. To dig on this schedule/stalk us/bother us for money/ask Lyle for tips on goatee-maintenance tweet our facebook fax number snail mail etc etc blah blah blah SMS our BBM or the RSS feed. Thanks ye kindly. SEE YOU IN AUSTIN SUCKAS.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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