There are a lot of videos coming out of Austin these days, so we’ve decided to make life easier for you by compiling some of the most notable into a recurring feature called Out of Focus.
Blind Pets- “Up All Night”
Some people eagerly await the next Marvel movie, or obsess over the details of whatever Terrence Malick is currently up to. Me, I froth at the mouth any time a new John Valley video is released. And Valley’s newest effort certainly doesn’t disappoint. Working from a concept co-created by and starring the Blind Pets’ Joshua Logan, Valley’s vision for their single “Up All Night” is a twist on the succubus trope, with Logan’s grimy bro character (decked out in a John Mayer tee) thinking he’s in for the night of his life after he takes Marina Walthall home. Technically, he’s right, it’s just more accurate to say it might be the last night of his life. Sexy and thrilling, “Up All Night” functions as a grindhouse partner to Valley’s “Baby Doll” video, with darker lighting and rougher textures emphasizing the pulpy plot while maintaining Valley’s standard whimsical wit and trope flipping (dig that horror movie poster slogan “One night stands are always forever). That’s not to say the video isn’t as visually stunning as the director’s other work; Valley’s cinematographer Taylor Camarot manages to give the horror video some distinctly Malickian moments in the final third, as Logan runs for his life in a gorgeous section of the hill country. In our recent interview, Valley told me he’s working on some feature length work, and though this video is less than ten minutes long, Valley is able to bring out some great performances from his cast (particularly Walthall) and carve out an intriguing narrative that bodes well for longer work from him.
Kady Rain- “R.A.D. Moves”
You might not be familiar with them yet, but Kady Rain are poised to be Austin’s next megastars, and not just because of their ability to turn out perfectly crafted pop. The pop group’s impressive visual sense is one of their greatest assets, and their debut music video “R.A.D. Moves” makes that abundantly clear. Shot in a colorful stretch of North Loop and at Cheer Up Charlie’s, Chaz Harpman, Holly Bronko and Wayne Duchau’s video emphasizes the vivid color palette Kady Rain inhabit, following Rain and her girlfriends as they seek out guys who will keep them thrilled. Like Kady Rain, “R.A.D. Moves” is stylish and playful, and its ample visual double entendres further drive home the not-so-subtle eroticism at the heart of Rain’s music. The team even works in some dreamy hook up sequences that would fit right in with Baz Luhrmann’s ouevre.
MCG “Outside”
It’s great that technology has advanced to the point where you can make full length movies with your phone but this thing where bands release music videos that are essentially just them standing in places while on tour is not a good trend. MCG are the most recent Austin act to indulge in this with their new video for “Outside,” and while I get the temptation to have your music video literally deliver on the title, I think there are more creative ways to express yourself. But if you like Austin musicians shuffling around “beautiful scenery” while some distinctly Shania Twain-like music plays, MCG has you covered.
Nick Hanover got his degree from Disneyland, but he’s the last of the secret agents and he’s your man. Which is to say you can find his particular style of espionage here at Ovrld as well as Loser City, where he mostly writes about comics. You can also flip through his archives at Comics Bulletin, which he is formerly the Co-Managing Editor of, and Spectrum Culture, where he contributed literally hundreds of pieces for a few years. Or if you feel particularly adventurous, you can always witness his odd .gif battles with his friends and enemies on twitter: @Nick_Hanover
