Last week we had a listen to Eora/Sydney post punk troop Marilyn Maria‘s new fantastic single ‘Self Help Tape’ and today we are honoured to give you an exclusive look at the effervescent video for this slice of post punk joy.
We said of the single that it had a bass that eviscerates the spine which heralded squalling guitars and a machine gun rattle as the rocket launches. We called it a powerful, hypnotic track that positively shimmers and pogoes its way into your head.
The vocal delivery in the verse casts a knowing glance towards Devo while the chorus swerves into a more melodic lane with a post punk anthemic blast. This is pulse-quickening stuff, with touches of fellow antipodeans A. Swayze and the Ghosts and Johnny Hunter’s swagger and attitude.
The video is a brilliant depiction of a band that is infused with a sense of humour with a whole bucket load of panache. Deadpan, besuited and intense at the start, the band members perform against a screen of static as the song enters the arena with its rumbling bass. The band slowly animates and ‘degenerates’ with style and attitude: morphing into disco animals that swing with carefree abandon.
Of the track, singer/lyricist Angus Hardy says,
The pretty obvious influence here is DEVO’s ‘Whip It’, and I wanted to lean in rather than shy away from it. I love that song and how the answer to everything is to ‘whip it’. I read somewhere that it was a satire of American optimism. Another big influence came from hustle-bro podcasts that seem to just proliferate the internet now. The ‘wake up at 5am and you’ll be a billionaire’ mentality.
Hardy adds that the lyrics informed the video, becoming:
…a set of instructions that start as if it might be some hustle culture pyramid scheme, telling you to pull yourself up by the bootstraps, and then evolves into a kinkier set of instructions, that could be two people engaged in S&M role-play. That’s the concept arc we used when making the music video, where we evolve from office workers into these absurdist kink personas wearing masks and riding inflatables. It was a lot of fun!”
Ben Hargrave, the band’s guitarist, edited the clip and describes post production as:
…a series of happy accidents! Going in we had different set ups in mind and a rough idea of the way they would develop and transform, but a lot of the structure of the clip was found in post. I’d keyed out the green screen and stacked takes and all of a sudden the shots seemed to be bursting through each other and you couldn’t see where one started and the next began. It helped drive the themes we were going for in a visual way we hadn’t planned.
The entire clip is stylish and enigmatic, completely immersive and a perfect accompaniment to the brash swagger of the track. This is a band that knows how to have fun:
The video was directed by Marilyn Maria, shot by Jack Mounsey and edited by Benjamin Hargrave.
Marilyn Maria first came to our attention for their live performance, and consistently deliver on record.
‘Self Help Tape’ is out now and available through the link below and all the usual streaming sites.
Feature Photograph: Tom Wilkinson
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