I present to you The Jealous Girlfriends hailing from Brooklyn, New York. Beginning life based on the bluesy, singer-songwriter-with-a-heavenly-voice chops of Holly Miranda, the group has expanded and evolved into something incorporating a good deal more texture and much more straight rocking. What’s the resulting sound of this new beast? Well, let’s get the name-dropping influence dance out of the way, shall we? TV on the Radio, Blur, A bit of Fiona Apple. Got it? Good. The important point is that it ends up being delightful.

Colored strongly with the rhythmic rock crayon is the track “How Now”, which may represent the most severely dramatic change in sound since the Faint suddenly decided to sound like the 80’s after the very non-retro Media. The video is a playful, low-budget affair that meshes well with the dinky little drum machine beat and synth echoes that open the track. We have two spacemen discovering Williamsburg and just having some spastic fun enjoying the sights and sounds of our daily lives. Playing at times like a Johnny Knoxville or Sasha Baron Cohen production with bits of unscripted pedestrian response, it’s mostly silver-suited prancing and tomfoolery wrapped in love.

Now, I’d be lying if I said there was anything revolutionary and epoch-making going on here, but when a DIY band tasks a director to come up with something clever using essentially no budget and that person grabs a camcorder, has some fun, and just makes it happen, I have to give some respect. Sarah Soquel Morhaim could have done something predictable, like recording a live show, or god-forbid,getting some art-school friend to do some stop-motion, but she didn’t. She got some people to put on some goddamn space helmets, walk outside and start running around until she had a video. Sure, give me some spacesuits and I’ll make you the something similar, but if somebody says “spacemen running around brooklyn” you know the two words popping into my head? Jealous Girlfriends. The two words popping into their heads? Mission Accomplished.

Respect to Dan for the heads-up and for that killer guitar in the chorus.

The Jealous Girlfriends – How Now, directed by Sarah Soquel Morhaim

Via The Jealous Girlfriends

Via SRO [iPod compatible: 17.3 MB]

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