NEW RELEASE: Cobra Starship "The City Is At War"

White suits and white powder never go out of style, especially when it comes to rock and rap acts that need to quickly establish some dangerous cred. Although there's little difference in terms of the "coolness" between bad guys and good guys in the world of high stakes drug dealing — let's call it the dichotomy of Tony Montana and Crockett/Tubbs —  singer Gabe Saporta and his Cobra Straship crew manage to subvert all that and seem way above all that hokum. You see, that's not coke he's cutting. It's cake flour (note: Ok, it's actually all purpose flour, but give me a little poetic license here). And, they're not literally cooking down some rock to sell to the hipsters; They're baking pies to throw in their faces. Now, if you'll allow me to carry the drug metaphor two steps too far: 1) This song is insanely catchy and probably as addictive as the ol' Glad Stuff t itself (note:  No, I've never heard someone refer to cocaine as Glad Stuff either, but I found it on a list of coke nicknames and it seemed a more plausible term than Aunt Nora or Weasel Dust ). 2) As you could guess, there's also a sanitized version of this video. I suggest you go with this original, "uncut" one. (Get it? Uncut? Hello?) --> watch "The City Is At War" director's (un)cut Quicktime or via YouTube

Cobra Starship "The City Is At War" (Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen)
Whitey McConnaughy, director/editor | Gina Bevilaqua, producer | Refused TV, production co | Jon Fordham, DP | Greencard Pictures , production service co

SHOT: Cobra Starship - Whitey McConnaughy, director

Look for this new Cobra Starship clip to boast cameos by Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy (or course) and Armor For Sleep's Ben Jorgensen.

artist: Cobra Starship
song: "The City Is At War"
label: Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen
director(s): Whitey McConnaughy
production co: Refused TV
DP: Jon Fordham

BOOKED: Panic! At The Disco - Shane Drake, director

artist: Panic! At The Disco
song: "Nine In The Afternoon"
label: Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen
director(s): Shane Drake
production co: Red Van Pictures
rep: Labuda Management

note: Shane Drake is signed with Merge @ Crossroads

BOOKED: Paramore - Shane Drake, director

Director Shane Drake is on board with Paramore for the second video off the the band's Riot. Drake also directed the clip for the band's smash lead single, "Misery Business."

artist: Paramore
song: "CrushCrushCrush"
label: Fueled By Ramen/Atlantic
director(s): Shane Drake
production co: Red Van Pictures
rep: Labuda Management

note: Shane Drake remains signed with Merge @ Crossroads

SHOT: Paramore - Shane Drake, director

 artist: Paramore
song: "Misery Business"
label: Fueled By Ramen/Atlantic
director(s): Shane Drake
production co: Red Van Pictures
rep: Labuda Management

SHOT: The Academy Is - Alan Ferguson, director

artist: The Academy Is...
song: "We've Got A Big Mess On Our Hands"
label: Fueled By Ramen/Atlantic
director(s): Alan Ferguson
production co: Anonymous Content

NEW RELEASE: Cobra Starship "The Church Of Hot Addiction"

The denomination of "The Church Of Hot Addiction" is unclear, but it's certainly one of the more reformed branches. In fact, it's not a church at all, but rather a dingy Mexican den of sin with booze, babes, gambling and co-ed mud wrestling. Cobra Starship frontman Gabe Saporta eventually tires of the debauchery, but gets sidetracked on the way out when he meets a beautiful, lifesize rabbit prostitute. The hot sex leads to a relationship and eventually a wedding (Jewish, no less) and family life. --> watch "The Church Of Hot Addiction" (YouTube)

Cobra Starship "The Church Of Hot Addiction"
(Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen)
Alan Ferguson, director/DP |  The Kompany, production co | Tue Walin Storm, editor

BOOKED: Lifetime - Travis Kopach, director

NJ punk favorites Lifetime return after a near ten year gap...

artist: Lifetime
song: "I Can't Wait"
label: Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen
director(s): Travis Kopach
production co: Dignity & Shame

SHOT: Cute Is What We Aim For - Lex Halaby, director

Cute Is Indeed What they Aim For: Director Lex Halaby (second from left) on the set of "The Curse Of Curves" with members of Cute Is What We Aim For.

artist: Cute Is What We Aim For
song: "The Curse Of Curves"
label: Fueled By Ramen
director(s): Lex Halaby
production co: Refused TV

NEW RELEASE: Gym Class Hereos "Cupid's Chokehold"

Gym Class Heroes frontman Travis McCoy keeps falling in and out of love in this new video for "Cupid's Chokehold." Luckily for McCoy, Cupid is pretty persistant and gives him many chances to find real love with a succession of beautiful women. As with most videos from the Decaydance family of artists, this video features a cameo (Fall Out Boy singer Patrick Stump sings the hook, which is recycled from Supertramp's "Breakfast In America") and there's plenty of humorous bits — most notably a mid-song human beatbox break at a snooty party. -- watch "Cupid's Chokehold" (YouTube) 

Gym Class Heroes "Cupid's Chokehold" (Fueled By Ramen)
Alan Ferguson, director/DP | Jacqui Frisco, producer | Anonymous Content, production co | Megan Brennan @ Company X, editor

SHOT: Gym Class Heroes - Alan Ferguson, director

Director Alan Ferguson and the video's littlest lead actor Jacob Perez on the set of Gym Class Heroes' "Cupid's Chokehold."

artist: Gym Class Heroes
song: "Cupid's Chokehold"
label: Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen
director(s): Alan Ferguson
production co: Anonymous Content

NEW RELEASE: Panic! At The Disco "Lying Is The Most Fun..."

Panic! At The Disco
"Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off" (Fueled By Ramen/Atlantic)
Travis Kopach, director/editor | Cesar Delucia, producer | F.M. Rocks, production co | Ross Richardson, DP | Description: Not to get all Darwinian and stuff, but the theory goes that all life started in the ocean. This exquisitely strange Panic! At The Disco video, directed by Travis Kopach, suggests a reality in which humans never fully developed the ability to breath outside of water, hence the need to wear fishtanks around our heads. The narrative-driven clip concentrates on a woman who discovers that her husband has fallen and cracked his tank's glass. Taking into account the lyrics about infidelity — not to mention the woman's reaction — it's easy to surmise that it was no accident, but rather a self-destructive act by a cuckolded man. Let's hope they can rekindle their love back in the ocean — the only place where they can now survive.
    On a technical level: The actors in the videos wore specially constructed double-paned tank helmets that were hollow in the center, thus allowing the actors heads to be surrounded by aquatic scenery. The interior glass lines were then removed in post by Inferno artist Karen Heston of effects house Quiet Man. -- watch "Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off"

NEW RELEASE: Paramore "Emergency"

Paramore
"Emergency" (Fueled By Ramen)
Shane Drake, director | Brandon Bonfiglio, producer | Labuda Management, rep | Johnny Ching, DP | Porter Browning, editor | Description: The battered and bruised members of Paramore lollygag in an abandoned warehouse until director Shane Drake wanders in and leads them out into the light. His crew bandages them up and Paramore start rocking out for the cameras. -- watch "Emergency" (YouTube)

NEW RELEASE: The Academy Is... "The Phrase That Pays"

The Academy Is...
"The Phrase That Pays" (Fueled By Ramen)
Marvin Scott Jarrett, director | Ted Robbins, producer | ToyStory, production co | Lenny Mesina, editor | Description: Insanity is all about perception, so there's really no point in trying to make out exactly who is mentally ill in this gleefully absurd and melodramatic video for The Academy Is.... Instead, I recommend that you enjoy the twists and the turns that fittingly describe both the video and this band. -- watch "The Phrase That Pays" (YouTube link)

BOOKED: Panic! At The Disco -Travis Kopach, director

This video about the trials and tribulations of a girl with a fish tank for a head is shooting today and tomorrow...

artist: Panic! At The Disco
song: "Lying Is The Only Way A Girl Can Have Fun Without Taking Her Clothes Off"
label:  Fueled By Ramen/Atlantic
director(s): Travis Kopach   
production co: F.M. Rocks

SHOT: Paramore - Shane C. Drake, director

Director Shane C. Drake (bottom, center, beard, about to eat a flower) on the set of "Emergency" with Paramore.

artist: Paramore
song: "Emergency"
label: Fueld By Ramen
director(s): Shane C. Drake
rep: Labuda Management

SHOT: Kane Hodder - Shane Drake, director

Shane Drake directed a video in Tacoma, WA for punk band Kane Hodder.

artist: Kane Hodder
song: "I Think Patrick Swayze Is Sexy"
label: Fueled By Ramen
director(s): Shane Drake
production co: Factory Features

ps: The band Kane Hodder is not to be confused with the man Kane Hodder, who played Jason Voorhees in four of the Friday The 13th movies.

BOOKED: The Academy Is - Ryan Rickett, director

artist: The Academy Is
song: "Classifieds"
label: Fueled By Ramen
director(s): Ryan Rickett
production co: Refused TV