Video of the Moment #1880: Girl Band
Dublin punk rock band Girl Band have a new promo for their single ‘Paul’. Preorder the ‘Paul’ 12″ now, and you’ll get a free download of the single instantly. The single is a taste off of the band’s highly anticipated debut album ‘Holding Hands with Jamie’ on the 25th of September on Rough Trade Records.
As you might expect from a bunch of punk rockers, the song itself is a punishing listen. Paradoxically, the actual video that accompanies the single chronicles a day in the life of a depressed man who wears an animal costume in a children’s tv show. The video’s director Bob Gallagher explains the premise:
“The idea came about from shooting an audition tape for my friend Kate for a kids TV show job. She’d curse if a take didn’t work out, which in the context I thought was hilarious. I’ve often watched kids TV with my Goddaughters, and every time I do I can’t help but wonder what it’s like for the actors behind the scenes. What the dynamics are like? There’s such a sheen on those shows of happiness that I thought it would be interesting to look at the flip side of that with a character who is full of self loathing but has to literally wear a big grin on his face. While I was researching I watched a documentary about Big Bird and there’s a line in where he Carol Spinney says that a woman was complimenting his performance but that she couldn’t see that inside the costume he was crying. It’s quite tragic. I think everyone has experiences of having to put on an outward expression and feeling trapped, so Paul’s costume is a visual extension of that. He’s inside the suit, at a distance from everybody around him, but wearing this absurd smile that’s totally false to what’s going on inside.
“When the pressure of living that life comes to a head he gets to be himself, and in a bizarre way he gets acceptance from his hero Big Rooster, so I see it as a bizarre but happy ending.”
Have a watch of the video below. Girl Band will be on tour in England and Ireland in November. For more on Girl Band on TGTF, go here.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4SmyqO5DUU[/youtube]
Leave Your Response