WATCH IT: Beach House "Lazuli" (Allen Cordell, dir.)

Paranormal activity abounds in this new Beach House video, ranging from accurate depictions of ghosts — They're invisible, people. That's why they wear the sheets. — to exploding eggs à la Ghostbusters. Director Allen Cordell also includes plenty of his typically absurd moments, but they're kept in check (Adderrall?) and make perfect sense with the dreamy and often awe-inspiring intergalactic vibe. --> watch "Lazuli"

Beach House "Lazuli" (Sub Pop)
Allen Cordell, director/editor | Matthew Snetzko, Michelle Cuccuini, producer | Cause & [Effect] NY, production co | Richard Kim, DP

WATCH IT: Father John Misty "This Is Sally Hatchet" (Grant James, dir.)

Welcome to Purgatory Pizza, where the pies are cut like pentagrams and you best watch your fingers unless you'd like to keep them from becoming part of the Supreme special. You should also stay out of the backroom, unless you want to distract a very kickass woman from her riflery target practice. --> watch "This Is Sally Hatchet"

Father John Misty "This Is Sally Hatchet" (Sub Pop)
Grant James, director | Milkt Films, production co

WATCH IT: Low "Try To Sleep" (Travis Schneider, dir.)

What's a better score for Low: Robert Plant covering two of their songs on his latest album, or John Stamos starring in their new video. "Try To Sleep" features Stamos behind the wheel as he goes on a beautifully languid drive to nowhere with his sweetheart beside him. --> watch "Try To Sleep"

Low "Try To Sleep" (Sub Pop)
Travis Schneider, director/editor | Stephen Bender, Matt Beckley, producer | RW Media, rep | David Myrick, DP 

note: Logos represent site sponsors

WATCH IT: Mogwai "How To Be A Werewolf" (Antony Crook, dir.)

The loneliness of the long distance pedaler? This Mogwai video is essentially taken from director Antony Crook's short documentatry film 30 Century Man, featuring James Bowthorpe, a cyclist who holds the world record for fasted bike ride around the world by pedalling 18,000 miles across 20 countries 20 days faster than anyone else. And he did it for charity. The compilation that's matched to the atmospheric and driving Mogwai track was shot during a "white" night in the middle of nowhere Norway. --> watch "How To Be A Werewolf"

Mogwai "How To Be A Werewolf" (Sub Pop)
Antony Crook, director  

WATCH IT: Foals "2 Trees" (Adam Bizanski, dir.)

Singalong Paul is a puppet. He loves music, all types, and has posted lip-sync tribute videos to songs by Alan Arkin and Radiohead. Now he's made an official video for Foals and it's clearly a dream-like opportunity, even if it's only an actual dream. Either way, it's another charming creation from the mind of Adam Bizanski, an Israeli director/animator who knows a thing or two about dreams. (PS: Flat Eric? Say hello to your replacement.) --> watch "2 Trees"

Foals "2 Trees" (Sub Pop)
Adam Bizanski, director | Singalong Paul, production co | Eli Arenson, DP

SHOT: Avi Buffalo - Andrew Huang, dir.

• artist: Avi Buffalo
• song: "What's It In For"
• label: Sub Pop
• director(s): Andrew Huang
• production co: Mega G
• rep: Jamie Kohn @ HELLO!

sponsored content: Hello! is a sponsor of VideoStatic.com

WATCH IT: Fruit Bats "The Ruminant Band"

There's a whole lot of revelry and even more oddness in this anything but funereal video for indie folk act Fruit Bats.

Ryan McNeil of The General Assembly, directors:  We grew up in the Texas-Oklahoma Bible Belt and have always wanted to do a video that pays homage to church revivals.  The original idea was that it would be a normal church service that morphs into this Pentecostal, holy-roller freakout.  We wanted the ending to be more epic, so we made the whole scenario fit into the context of a sort of modern-day viking funeral.  We weren't sure if the treatment was going to be too weird for the band, but Fruit Bats singer, Eric Johnson, was immediately on-board.  As a side-note, the photograph of the deceased is actually a picture of my uncle David who lives in Texas and has no idea that his own funeral has become the basis of a music video.

--> watch "The Ruminant Band"

Fruit Bats "The Ruminant Band" (Sub Pop)
The General Assembly, directors | Town Hall, production co 

SHOT: Fruit Bats - The General Assembly, director

From the directors of Radar Bros. "Brother Rabbit."

• artist: Fruit Bats
• song: "The Ruminant Band"
• label: Sub Pop
• director(s): The General Assembly
• production co: Townhall
• producer: Jeff Shupe

WATCH IT: Fleet Foxes "Mykonos"

While any song with a title of "Mykonos" probably inspired treatments dreaming of all-expense paid trips to the fabled Greek island to capture its essence, this paper cutout clip for Fleet Foxes opts to capture the band's essence. And by that, I mean to say that even the construction paper faces that populate this video have facial hair. Director Sean Pecknold — who also directed the band's "White Winter Hymnal" and
"He Doesn't Know Why" (and, as some dorks will note, shares a last name with singer/guitarist Robin Pecknold) — collaborates with a stop animation team to conjure up a fantasy land and accompanying story out of various geometric shapes. It might not have been the free trip to Mykonos it could have been, but the video lives up to the simple, but not really so simple beauty of the song.  --> watch "Mykonos" plus a making-of montage

Fleet Foxes "Mykonos" (Bella Union/Sub Pop)
Sean Pecknold, director/art director | Grandchildren, production co  | Jesse Brown, artist/illustrator | Toby Liebowitz and Chris Ando, animation assistants

WATCH IT: Fleet Foxes "He Doesn't Know Why"

It's likely that the suggestion of having a herd of goats in a music video conjures up images of horrendous Satanic death metal or something far more bestial and nefarious. No need to be fearful of this overly pure video for Fleet Foxes, a band that looks and sounds like the best hippie impulses from the '60s. The (Fleet) Foxes and the goats coexist perfectly in what looks like a barnyard hotel room. No groupie goat love, thankfully. Just blissful music as man and beast live in harmony. --> watch "He Doesn't Know Why"

Fleet Foxes "He Doesn't Know Why" (Sub Pop)
Sean Pecknold, director | Noel Paul, producer | Grandchildren, production co | Kyle Carver, DP | Winsor McKay, editor | Dana Thompson-Carver, art director | Eric Rose (FSFT), colorist/telecine | Tammy Dunican, goat wrangler

SHOT: CSS - Keith Schofield, director

Director Keith Schofield (third from left) with CSS...

artist: CSS
song: "Move"
label: Sub Pop
director(s): Keith Schofield
production co: Twentyfour-Seven (Barcelona), Streetgang Films
rep: Free Agent UK / Lanette Phillips Management

WATCH IT: Gutter Twins "Idle Hands"

The idea that boredom leads to dangerous and destructive acts is nothing new. As the old proverb goes, "Idle hands are the devil's tools." In this video for noted devil's advocates The Gutter Twins — aka Mark Lanegan and former Afghan Whig frontman Greg Dulli — we have a group of bored kids passing the time out in the middle of nowhere by breaking shit. The destruction gets bigger, better and more creative as the video proceeds — running the gamut from mere juvenilia and mostly harmless Gallagherian smashing all the way to the kind of deadly bombast that would make General Buck Turgidson proud. --> watch "Idle Hands" (Quicktime)

The Gutter Twins "Idle Hands" (Sub Pop)
Warren Julius, director | Lynn Kramer, producer | Rabbit, production co | David A. Rodriguez, DP | Logan Hefflefinger, Final Cut LA, editor

BOOKED: CSS - Nima Nourizadeh, director

artist: CSS
song: "Rat Is Dead (Rage)" 
label: Sub Pop
director(s): Nima Nourizadeh 
production co: Partizan

NEW RELEASE: Flight Of The Conchords "Ladies Of The World"

There's only one answer to explain how the douchebag sitting near the Flight Of The Conchords has two hotties draped all over him and totally absorbed into a tall tale about his rock 'n' roll lifestyle: It's the wheels. Chicks dig a nice set of wheels — even if those wheels are actually rollerskates. The comedic duo are thus inspired to dream about having a retro rollerjam with not just California Girls, but ladies of all nationalities and with all sorts of genitalia. Yes. That's how much they love the ladies. They even love the ones that ain't all lady.  --> watch "Ladies Of The World"

Flight Of The Conchords
"Ladies Of The World" (Sub Pop)
Nima Nourizadeh, director | Charles Spano, producer | Partizan, production co | Andrew Shulkind, DP | Ghost Town Media, fx/post