Watch: Sleepy Sun - “Open Eyes”

We know, we know. We just posted an album review for Bay Area psych-rock sextet Sleepy Sun’s latest album, Fever, but we couldn’t resist doubling up on that action with this awesome video for, “Open Eyes.” Since Sean McCoy already penned 200-plus words on the band’s highly enjoyable new album, we’ll let this video speak for itself. Enjoy.

Watch: Sugar & Gold - “Salty Seraphim (Live Acoustic Version)”

This video of Sugar & Gold jamming like it’s the late-’60s at Andy Warhol’s Factory is brought to us by The New Gay. In it, a few members of the San Francisco quintent jam out on an acoustic version of “Salty Seraphim,” one of our favorite songs from their latest release, Get Wet!. It’s kinda weird, a little funny, and totally makes us think Sugar & Gold needs to spawn a psychedelic jam band after it finishes touring for the new album.

Watch: FM Belfast - “Underwear”

Here’s a pretty funny and unusually awesome looking music video for the song “Underwear” from Iceland’s FM Belfast. The song itself—which is a relatively average bit of electro-pop we couldn’t exactly recommend—is actually overshadowed by some well-executed visual work directed by Daniel Scheinert & Dan Kwan, collectively known as DANIELS.

The two video makers turned a somewhat dull concept, boys and girls dancing alone in their respective rooms, and made it look amazing. Employing a few visual effects and some insanely high-quality footage, DANIELS made the embarrassing movements of awkward tweens into stellar looking visual art.

Watch: Rainbow Arabia - “Holiday in Congo”

Now here’s a video that fun to listen to and fun to watch. LA husband and wife duo Rainbow Arabia filmed their music video for “Holiday in Congo” while touring through Brazil. They made some pit stops in order to employ a few friends, don that classic black & white outfit the world is so familiar with, and do their best Jacko moves through São Paulo. It’s hilarious, weird, and totally awesome, quite like Rainbow Arabia itself.  And if you’re super into this song, head over to Stereogum (who premiered the video) and get your hands on some free downloads of the original track and a remix by Myd.

Watch: Casiokids - “Finn Bikkjen!”

Norway’s electronic-leaning indie-pop quintent Casiokids just premiered this playful video for its first single from the forthcoming sophomore album on Polyvinyl RecordsTopp Stemning På Lokal Bar.

“Finn Bikkjen!” comes with a quite literal visual accompaniment, as the video’s story—directed by Greg Taylor—features a man looking for his beloved pet through a mystical forest in his dreams and the single’s title translates directly to “Find Dogs!”. You can also download the easily lovable song for free, here.

Topp Stemning På Lokal Bar is out June 8.

Watch: The Fall - “Bury Pts. 2 + 4”

What can really be said about the prolific Mark E. Smith and his de facto outlet, The Fall, that hasn’t yet been said? We’re opting to let the slurring ranter do the talking for us in this video for his latest single, “Bury Pts. 2 + 4,” from the recently released 28th album from The Fall, Your Future Our Clutter.

Watch: Class Actress - “Adolescent Heart”

Seems like the best way to get your music video seen and heard these days is to guarantee some sort of lude, crude, or nude element for viewers to sneak by their bosses at work. Brooklyn’s sugary pop fanatics Class Actress have opted to go the complete opposite route with their video for “Adolescent Heart.”

The lighthearted number is taken from Class Actress’ debut EP, Journal of Ardency, and is accompanied by what looks like archived family films of singer Elizabeth Harper playing backgammon, Twister, cards, and a bit of music in a cozy room with her producer, Mark Richardson. Director Jessica Lauretti intersperses scenic footage throughout her innocent film, and gives the whole experience a heavy nostalgic vibe—not dissimilar from Class Actress itself.

Watch: Man/Miracle - “Pushing and Shoving”

Oakland’s four-piece indie outfit Man/Miracle just shared this new video for the single “Pushing and Shoving” from its latest album, The Shape of Things. It looks like the band and their crew of friends are gearing up for the Bay’s Indian summer with an afternoon rooftop concert. Man/Miracle’s upbeat song seems to capture the excitement and jovial mood of the video, while director Josh Lowman’s blown-out footage cuts between partying youngsters and wilderness excursions.

Watch: The Splinters - “Splintered Bridges”

Now this is just fun. Oakland’s garage-rock heiresses, The Splinters, shared a new video from their debut full-length album, Kick, out now on Double Negative Records.

“Splintered Bridges” starts out innocently enough with some hazy, dream-like footage of a young man unwinding in his room with a little rock music. Suddenly, the band of his dreams appears in his room à la The Ramones in Rock ‘n Roll Highschool, but only moments before The Splinters distract the young man with their wily charms and trash his room in the name of punk. The band’s video is cute, fun, and full of teenage nostalgia. It’s The Splinters to a T.

Watch: Tempo No Tempo - “Pole Position”

One of last years more interesting and unexpected debut’s, Waking Heat by San Francisco’s Tempo No Tempo showed us that there is still a bit left to uncover in the realm of D.C.-bred post-punk. The trio made a great album by wedding those obtuse sounds with the more bouncing styles of dub and Afrobeat for a fresh take all their own, one which is evidenced well in Heat’s second single, “Pole Position.”

This video for “Pole Position” song is ridiculously well-made and intricately choreographed for a band who self-released its first album. TNT’s three members move about through strange portals between practice spaces, basements, and beaches—sometimes travelling in precarious and disorienting ways—while simultaneously performing the song. Kudos to French Press Films for the quality retained in executing this idea.

Watch: Dosh - “Airlift”

Multi-instrumentalist and solo music man Dosh just shared this awesome video for the song “Airlift” from his recently released fifth album, Tommy, and it’s pretty amazing. When so many music videos tend to placate only to a band’s need to be seen and heard, it’s refreshing to see such a well thought out idea—which actually has a solid narrative—brought to life in a beautiful way.

Director Shal Ngo presents the story of an aging man who lacks a certain consistency in his life, and the young girl who introduces him to a special kind of calm. Dosh’s swelling piano melodies, poignant synth arrangements, and jazzy drumming provide the ideal backdrop to Ngo’s Gondry-esque images—an effect which culminates into a peaceful, twinkling atmosphere that lasts for the video’s final minute.

Watch: Grand Lake - “Louise (I Live in A Fantasy)”

Bay Area indie upstart Grand Lake has just unleashed the first single from its forthcoming debut album, Blood Sea Dream. “Louise (I Live in A Fantasy)” sounds simultaneously like the deconstruction and re-imagining of modern indie rock. It’s a lofty statement, to be sure, but is evidenced well in the band’s electronics à la Animal Collective, herky-jerky rhythms, and strangely catchy, fractured guitar melody which all coalesce into something a bit more than just the sum of its parts.

The video for “Louise (I Live in A Fantasy)” is a simple affair: black & white footage of the three-piece band playing in a cluttered warehouse is spliced in with a male and female dancer doing their thing. It’s not the new Spike Jonze video by any means, but it compliments well Grand Lake’s fresh take on tried and true ideas.

Watch: Delorean - “Stay Close”

The video for the first taste of Delorean’s forthcoming full-length Subiza, album opener “Stay Close,” looks and feels precisely like its accompanying music: the warm ecstasy of summer days. If you spend your mid-year days floating in cool waters, rolling atop warm sands, or admiring sea life, this colorful piece of visual wonderment should have you aching for the coming months, and the music and fantastic weather that come with them.

Watch: YACHT - “The Afterlife”

Gender-bending costumes and images of the occult aren’t the only thing that drive Portland duo YACHT’s aesthetics. The post-synthpop outfit also seem to have a thing for religious ceremonies, as shown in this video for See Mystery Lights cut “The Afterlife.”

Just a few months shy of a year after their last album’s release, we’re treated to this video of Jona Bechtolt and Claire Evans all clad in white, seemingly baptizing themselves in numerous bodies of water in slow-motion. It couldn’t be called the most exciting music video ever made, but the facial expressions and clear running water sure make for some interesting imagery; the culmination of which could be interpreted as YACHT being “born again.” Maybe a move to the Christian rock circuit is next on their agenda.

Watch: David Byrne & Fatboy Slim - “Please Don’t (feat. Santigold)”

We’d be lying if we said we weren’t interested in literally anything that David Byrne does. Even the strange pairing between the living legend and ’90s big beat sensation Fatboy Slim has caught our eye. The two have been working together on a concept album about former First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos, entitled Here Lies Love, and recently shared a video for the album’s first single, “Please Don’t.”

The song, which features guest vocalist Santigold, is a buoyant, funky jam that recalls Speaking in Tongues-era Talking Heads—equally charged with politics, social commentary, and sweet grooves. The video for “Please Don’t” is basically a montage of archival footage concerning the album’s heroine and the tumultuous times when she made her mark.

Here Lies Love is out April 6 via Nonesuch Records.

Watch: Sleepy Sun - “Open Eyes”
Watch: Sugar & Gold - “Salty Seraphim (Live Acoustic Version)”
Watch: FM Belfast - “Underwear”
Watch: Rainbow Arabia - “Holiday in Congo”
Watch: Casiokids - “Finn Bikkjen!”
Watch: The Fall - “Bury Pts. 2 + 4”
Watch: Class Actress - “Adolescent Heart”
Watch: Man/Miracle - “Pushing and Shoving”
Watch: The Splinters - “Splintered Bridges”
Watch: Tempo No Tempo - “Pole Position”
Watch: Dosh - “Airlift”
Watch: Grand Lake - “Louise (I Live in A Fantasy)”
Watch: Delorean - “Stay Close”
Watch: YACHT - “The Afterlife”
Watch: David Byrne & Fatboy Slim - “Please Don’t (feat. Santigold)”

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