VIDEO
The Entertainers
Third Man Records
VIDEO are intense. Their artful approach to snotty punk feels like it crawled out of the sewers of the rotary dial past, long since overgrown with modern day fiber optic cables and discarded social media profiles. Their very name makes them a bit of an enigma. VIDEO: a modern day obsession that documents, celebrates, damns, gossips, terrifies, distracts, interrupts, and entertains. An invasive medium that we’re all plugged into, in one way or another. So why name your band that? There must be a reason. Try searching it in Google, and the reason may be in 10,570,000,000 results found: anonymity.
The Entertainers, a fiery burst of punk, darkness, and apocalyptic proclamations, drags the accidental punk of The Stooges through the angry punk-with-intention of Dead Kennedys and drops it in the 21st Century like a time bomb. A haunted piano intro bleeds into an acoustic guitar build-up that does little to prepare your ears for the snarling vocals that soon follow on “The Entertainers.” “New Immortals,” a catchy, psychedelic garage punk explosion of energy and echo, follows. Really, the whole first half of the album is burning on all cylinders so that by the time “No Art” rolls around the dip in pace is most welcome. “I Will Wait” is stripped down to an eerie simplicity and sung in a Lou Reed baritone. Things pick up for one final charge, and “The End Of It All” takes us out on a grim note (death) with fists held high (afterlife?).
Cause in the end/ We can live once we are gone/ Cause in the end/ Only one thing will carry on/ Cause in the end/ In the end of it all… only the name will survive
This is not music to cuddle to, but if you’re blood is boiling and you need a musical outlet, VIDEO are sure to please.
