Before releasing their new album Cashes Out, mxdwn is honored to premiere Rubber Band Gun’s video accompanying not one song but the entire record. The LP is set to be officially released tomorrow (11/18) via Earth Libraries. Still, with such a good record, it’s hard to wait that long, so we are delighted to offer a colorful and image-intense video for the album.
Because the video features all six songs, it is a rather long video, but who would mind that? Especially with the excellent music and fascinating imagery that is displayed throughout the video (and the album) it really makes it worth spending your time with.
Kevin Basko, who is behind Rubber Band Gun, describes the making of the video. “From the start of recording Cashes Out, I wanted a unique visual talent to accompany the sounds we were making,” he indicates. “Ben Montez has an incredible eye and ear for collaboration and he really brought the Vegas dream to life. With a combination of found stock footage, intimate practical shots, and absurd animation, he has built a neon world and story around the themes and characters explored in this record. Each song/video can live in its own world and feel coherent on its own, but when played together as a whole, Ben has created a film that pushes those boundaries and shows the viewer a side of RBG that they’ve never seen before.”
The video kicks off with the first song, “My Time.” While the title sounds a little bit like “My Way” by Frank Sinatra, the song actually reminds one a little of the early Elton John. The video throughout the song shows images of various games in casinos and the Las Vegas strip, but because of the nostalgic filter, it feels like a time that might has passed. It perfectly goes with the song, especially considering the influences and sounds from an 80s pop song. The next song, “Cash Out,” hits a slower tempo and the imagery looks even more like it’s taken from a Monty Python movie, with the cutouts and photos as backgrounds, you know, like a scene from The Life of Brian. It is safe to assume that everyone who has ever been to a casino has seen “the lady at the slot machine with the lazy eye,” as described at the beginning of the song.
“Like That” shows the excellent animation skills throughout the video, with the cut-outs and funny little details throughout this video sequence. “Fear” could be right out of a fever dream, or maybe an LSD trip. Its harsh colorful contrasts create a unique visual effect and the mix of artistic elements would make it a hit in the art professor community, especially with the chaotic piano in the song; it offers an experience like no other for your eyes and ears.
After such an artistic high, “Be Together” offers a little bit of calmness that is still amazingly produced and well placed with the sort of imagery the viewer is treated with. The grand finale comes with “Catches A Trout.” This sequence is another trip on its own and we might could even fight over the significant meaning behind it. The glass, the fish that is not in the water but some drops of water are slowly filling the glass, maybe offering the fish some life in the near feature; what is the meaning? Well, the great thing about art is that you can decide that for yourself, and if we can agree on something here, then that Rubber Band Gun produced one amazing and fascinating video to bring Cashes Out to life.
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