The 5 Best Videos Of The Week

The 5 Best Videos Of The Week

This was such a good week for music videos that neither the black-and-white YG one nor the one with the puppets and Corey Feldman made the cut. Neither did Father John Misty, whose music videos still lag behind just about every other aspect of his presentation. (“Things It Would Have Been Helpful To Know Before The Revolution” is an improvement, but there’s still better stuff out there.) Instead, this week’s picks are below.

5. Alex Cameron – “Stranger’s Kiss” (Feat. Angel Olsen) (Dir. Jemima Kirke)

Credit Jemima Kirke, formerly known to most of us as Jessa on Girls, for figuring out a way to make narcissism look vaguely romantic.

4. Lorde – “Perfect Places” (Dir. Grant Singer)

I’m guessing that this video is supposed to be sadly ironic, Lorde entirely isolated in all these beautiful places. But I don’t know, it looks pretty nice. Also, Lorde remains a fascinating onscreen presence; she’s capable of making a video into something special just by being there.

3. Gone Is Gone – “Echolocation” (Dir. Bryan Bankovich)

The creature effects are fun, but the real MVPs here are the two drunk yuppies, stumbling into a deep-woods freak show like bullies from an ’80s teen comedy, just begging to get their own gruesome comeuppance. It’s nice to see that Mastodon’s tremendous music-video silliness extends even to the side projects.

2. Manchester Orchestra – “The Sunshine” (Dir. DANIELS)

The singing-baby CGI effects are both bad and creepy, but the whole thing is so strange and gripping and touching that it doesn’t even matter. If you’ve ever been a sleep-deprived new parent, the delirium here might look a little bit familiar.

1. Kendrick Lamar – “LOYALTY.” (Feat. Rihanna) (Dir. Dave Meyers & The Little Homies)

At this point, the four videos from DAMN. represent an absolute masterpiece of music and imagery and pop-cult manipulation. This latest installment has Rihanna and vertiginous cityscapes and mafia-backroom self-murders and no-big-deal car wrecks and motherfucking sharks that swim through asphalt, and it’s what, the third-best of them? This guy, man. Another level.

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