Friends, one of our favorite neighborhood bands, premiered their newest video for song “Va Fan Gör Du” on Stereogum yesterday. The dance-punk-pop band are one of the bands to successfully fly furthest from the nest, becoming a news staple on music blogs and having been signed to Lucky Number & Fat Possum Records. We like them so much we recently featured their single “Friend Crush” in the soundtrack to our Night in Bushwick video! They returned not long ago from performing at the Festival Circuit and touring all over Europe, perhaps where they got the inspiration for this jangly tune, which features an addictive chanting chorus and teetering guitarline …
The video itself must make you laugh. If you’re not laughing, you’ve seen way too much weird stuff already in your life. A mesh of bizarre characters, ’80s costumes and floaty ’90s video editing- it’s a mash up made in sleeze heaven. Drag Queens (surprisingly very attractive) gasp in disgust as the cross-dressing, uni-brow rocking meat butchers (not as sexy), who get smeared in chocolate syprup while jiggling their tongues and waving their knives at their intended “pieces of meat.”
The DIY video was directed by lead singer Samantha Urbani and shot by neighborhood persona Angelina Dreem, who helps run the vibes at Body Actualized Center. The song, whose title means “What the hell are you doing?” in Swedish, chronicles the outrage of a hollered-at female. Oh yes, this should be every Bushwick girl’s theme song – a response to the unwanted whistles, catcalls, and the “hey sweetie”, “hey baby”s that make up the chorus, follow attractive ladies around in this ‘hood. Sam fights back however, screetching and quipping back, “Hey, who do you think I am? Some bitch on the street, some piece of meat that you want to holler at.” Maybe we should try that in our hood? Any volunteers? Still waiting for a trial-and-error on this experiment.
The single comes from their energy-packed LP, Manifest!, which showcases an ambitious amalamation of genres- from hip hop to bubblegum pop to electronic and gypsy-punk, all under the label of DANCE. All of these influences come together under the upbeat energy of Urbani, who guides listeners lovingly through each song. Can’t wait to hear what these guys do next! Keep track of upcoming tourdates on their website.