Very Bad Vibes is colorfully excessive in video for “Call Me Cool”

Sam Huntington makes up one part of The Original Crooks and Nannies (with snake boy gang’s Madeline Rafter), another part of AllegrA (watch their Key Session here) and the whole part of his new solo project, Very Bad Vibes. Contrary to what the self-effacing name suggests, Huntington’s first single “Call Me Cool,” rather sends out some Very Particularly Weird Addicting Vibes.

With precise, synth-y 8-bit beats, calculated and eclectic vocals, and hooky lines such as “You can borrow pliers to fix my teeth / I know I seem / independent but that’s not true / My crooked teeth need you,” the track is an off-kilter DIY jam living somewhere in the shenanigan-filled middle between the Porches and Passion Pit spheres of strange-pop.

Directed by Devon Voelkel, the video swaps between framed Brady Bunch-esque shots to tell four different fairly similar stories. Whether Huntington’s at the movies, on the couch, at work, or even crashing his car, you can expect to see him on the phone whilst unleashing antics as bright, clean aesthetics pepper the settings. Continuously carrying on in destructively excessive behavior, Huntington sings “And I said call me call collect / til you stopped calling me at all.” Still a bit cheeky about it all though, it’s not until the end that more reflection enters, via the addendum: “You still can’t afford the calls.”

Don’t miss out on Very Bad Vibes’ record release gig at All Night Diner on January 26th, which features a sick supporting bill of Lizdelise and Rafter’s Snake Boy Gang. Peruse info on the show here, and watch the video for “Call Me Cool” below.