A Face Worth Forgetting

Song: “Two Weeks”

Artist: Grizzly Bear

Rating: B-

Here’s a game: put on this video, minimize the window, and just listen to the song.

Done? Now watch the video. This is the kind of video you watch after you’ve heard the song a couple of times, because otherwise the smiling glowing cherubs ruin it. This is music where the visuals should come to you fairly easily without any kind of visual guidance and though that can be argued for most music videos, that’s a discussion for another time.

I kinda like it, I’ll admit. It’s like your odd little cousin: kind of obnoxious, yet still earnest in its distinctiveness. And different, it is. It feels like the work of a true Brooklyn bohemian, a real ugly type who’ll knock around Williamsburg with the band. In actuality Mr. Director  hails from Cali and has a pretty impressive video-making resume and probably doesn’t have time to hang out with bow-tie wearing dorks between his sit-down with Karen O and watching first-draft reels of his Milli Vanilli biopic. 

But this video is not California. It’s almost plain. It’s almost boring. And therein lies the trick; all a decent video needs is a little something-something for the clever consumer to pick up on, a little treat to reward them for paying good attention. Sometimes the treat’s worth the trouble, sometimes it’s not. The “Two Weeks” video falls in between with our hero’s ever-so-slightly distorted facial features, noticeable even before they get glowing.  Who doesn’t enjoy a little Uncanny Valley every now and then?