Pitchfork Forkcast: Video Premiere: Liars: "Houseclouds"

Video Premiere: Liars: "Houseclouds"

Those Liars, always zigging when you expect them to zag. The video for "Plaster Casts of Everything", the first song we heard from their self-titled album, was dark and strange and most of all intense, as a mysterious hitchhiker thumbed a ride on some deserted road and then all sorts of crazy shit happened. And now, in this clip for "Houseclouds", a breezily funky track that is one of Liars' most accessible, they reveal themselves as a bunch of lovable goofs who want nothing more than to stare blankly at the camera and nuzzle small animals in extreme close-up. Aaron Hemphill and Julian Gross are all dressed up for the occasion, but someone forgot to tell Angus Andrew that they were shooting a video today, so he's shirtless. The most striking footage shows Andrew and a tiny feline sharing a long, tender moment. He's not the kind of rock frontman you expect to see singing to an 8-week-old kitten while the little fuzzball paws lazily at his lips-- Ben Gibbard, maybe-- but that disconnect is part of what makes this simple video so great. Sonny Gerasimowicz directs.

[from Liars; out now on Mute]