Reel Dealer
Gay Bar and 7 Nation Army
Words: Sandy Hunter
New promos for Electric Six and The White Stripes breathe stunning optic life into two smoking hot rock-n-roll singles; in the case of the former, the video's not just hot, it's flaming!
"Gay Bar" for Electric Six reunites the band's disturbingly
photogenic front man with "Danger! High Voltage!" directors Kuntz and
Maguire. As a jangly guitar riff opens the song, a painting of the White
House, circa 1863 appears; as the song continues, the camera zooms
into the painting revealing a top-hatted figure. The live action cuts in to
reveal Abe Lincoln belting out the song's chorus ("You! I wanna take
you to a gay bar") from within the Oval Office. Mysteriously, Lincoln
clones appear to either side of the great emancipator and join in the
song. Soon, the bearded one is revealed riding an exercise bike, flanked
by nearly naked clones pumping iron and breaking a sweat. Lincoln
leads his band of amorous duplicates through an orgy of homoerotic
images involving hamsters, gourds, bathtubs, leather, stripper poles and
a frilly, lace-covered four-poster bed. The video merges with the song in
a mix of ironic energy and shocking displays of tongue-in-cheek Lincoln-
on-Lincoln lust.
"There are rumors that Lincoln was actually gay, that was our stepping off point," says Tom Kuntz. "We thought top hats, the White House and well, texturally it all seemed to make sense."
Shot in Toronto on a set originally built for the filming of Murder at 1600, the video is most likely the directing duo's last effort before beginning production on their first feature film, based on a script created by the razor sharp satirists behind The Onion.
The White Stripes' "7 Nation Army," on the other hand, is an
amazing graphic endeavor that catapults the viewer into a heavily
layered, skeleton warrior-powered rock out matching the metal inspired
single. Created by another duo, Parisian animation directors Alex and
Martin (known for their work with Cassius), the video combines raucous
performances with constantly present animated graphics. Meg White
and Jack White are alternately depicted framed or astride graphic red
and white triangles that move forward, one constantly emerging from
within the previous. Columns of sword-bearing skeletons flanking the
musicians add to the song's already potent channeling of '70s metal
iconography while carefully applied strobe light sequences enhance the
song's psychedelic crunch. The video was shot on HD and was heavily
treated by the animation and FX experts of Paris' BUF. How often does a
video reference the poster art of Philip Castle (who designed the film
poster for A Clockwork Orange) and the stop motion
masterpiece The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, and still kick out the
jams? Perhaps not often enough, but this one should hold us over for
some time to come.
Beyond shared musical roots, both of these videos share another common trait, namely their commissioner: heavy metal enthusiast Richard Skinner of London's XL Recordings.
Look for both videos on the July/August RES DVD.
