As of last weekend, PVRIS (not pronounced 'Pvvvris') have released a music video for every single track from their debut album, White Noise. If you haven't heard White Noise yet, let me try and nutshell how amazing it is: it's got this glossy but elusive synth-pop vibe to it in the same way that bands like CHVRCHES (again, not pronounced 'Chvvvrches') do, but then there's also a snap of mainstream rock catchiness. When I drew up my list of top albums for 2014, White Noise came in at #24. If I was to re-rank those albums, it would comfortable be within the top five for that year.
What's really piqued my interest about this series of videos is the fact that White Noise came out nearly a year and a half ago, and yet PVRIS haven't done what most bands would do on the cycle of an album. They haven't just made three of four videos before fucking off for a few months before the next album. PVRIS have kept people's attention right up until they're about to release new music, and I really respect that. As the YouTube kids appear to say, I'm "such fucking trash" for the White Noise vids.
As much as it is 'all about the music', music videos are a really great way to channel a visual concept, which for bands like PVRIS, has become a major factor in a band's appeal, especially for someone like me who is an absolute sucker for the performance element of music. I haven't really spoken much about music videos on this incarnation of Randon's Reviews, and even though my knowledge of film studies is no better than the next person, I felt inspired to rank the White Noise videos from the 'worst' (a word I use very loosely) to the best...
EDITOR'S NOTE: I actually wrote this blog a few hours before PVRIS dropped their new single, 'You And I', and I had planned for this post to precede the release but it dropped sooner than I thought. But hey, I've done it now, and let's not forget how awesome these videos are.
#9: 'St. Patrick'
This might seem a controversial choice for last place considering the fact that this is arguably PVRIS' biggest single to date (as well as the first video released), but I must stress how loosely I use the term 'worst': PVRIS have not released a bad video. While they do make an effort to introduce their image and concept with the 'St. Patrick' video, it's something which has definitely become more explicit with each video.
#8: 'My House'
This is the second and final case of PVRIS ironing out the creases in their performance on camera: when I look back at these earlier music videos, it feels like the band initially struggled with figuring out how to present themselves on camera, but they're still very visually pleasing. After the video for 'My House' (which was followed by 'White Noise'), PVRIS really started to nail that visual element.
#7: 'Eyelids'
This is actually my least favourite song from White Noise, but that's a bit like saying it's my least favourite chocolate from a box of Celebrations (yep, I even like Bounty). Seeing as this is one of the last videos to be released, its use of lighter colours and stripped-back visuals throws a pretty interesting contrast to the other videos, and that kind of reflects the role that 'Eyelids' plays on the album too.
Even though there was a six-month wait between the video for 'Fire' and the video for 'Smoke' (*insert something awful like 'No fire without smoke' here*), this set the precedent for the week following its release, where PVRIS essentially bombarded us with video after video after video. It's fast in pace, but the band still maintain their elusiveness by looking the shit in silhouette form.
MVP for this one however goes to Jarrod "I like your khaki shorts" Alonge, who left this absolute stonker of a comment on the video:
#5: 'Fire'
Take cover, Lynn Gunn has dropped a fucking sass bomb! When I first heard 'Fire', I remember instantly feeling the attitude and knowing from that point that PVRIS were actually going to be a pretty big deal. That's also how I felt when I watched the video for the first time; it's a real step-up in terms of confronting those mainstream pressures and expectations head-on. I don't know what else to talk about other than how kickass and fierce the performance is in this video. And that's 'very'. Yeah, I'm done.
#4: 'Ghosts' / 'Let Them In'
Well, this one took everyone by surprise. Combining two tracks in one video is strange, and you may think that they're cutting corners, but it's actually more impressive considering how minimal the video is. How they can take a series of time lapses and motion blurs, add a load of lens flares, stretch that out over nearly 7 minutes and make it one of their most captivating music videos is beyond me, but I'm just glad that they did it right, and that my laptop wasn't broken (honestly, I had to watch it a second time on my phone to be sure that was how it was meant to look).
#3: 'Holy'
I think this might be the first time that PVRIS indulge the darker side of their music on camera, and there couldn't be a better or more beautiful song on the album to do it to. The grainy, VCR effect also seems to impact on a number of the videos that follow, and it's surprising how eerie it makes everything look. Visually, I put it in the same bracket as 'Ghosts' / 'Let Them In' in the way that they've taken a limited amount of footage, and manipulate it so that your attention never wanes.
#2: 'White Noise'
While Lynn is an incredible vocalist and performer, it's worth mentioning that Alex Babinski and Brian MacDonald do way more in PVRIS' videos than stand at the side and look a bit surly. The internet may have melted over the fact that you briefly see Lynn in her underwear in the 'White Noise' video, but I feel like Alex and Brian really hold their own here and hit the narrative home. On top of that, there's wicked little nods to paranormal horror movies, and the editing and visual effects really start to break through here. Also, that chorus. Shit me.
#1: 'Mirrors'
SDJCASDEOJUSEDIUSH… Now, I just typed that scramble of random letters in when I was docking around with embedding YouTube videos into the post, but I actually decided to leave it in there, because it's probably quite an accurate representation of the noise I think I made when I first saw the final video in the White Noise saga.
PVRIS really did save the best for last with 'Mirrors'. It's visually stunning, the imagery and editing as at its absolute best, the performance is awesome - it basically takes everything that's been great about these videos and shoots it into the fucking sky. 'White Noise' may have had those Poltergeist nuances but this is actually scary, like the early Marilyn Manson videos, another example of where visual editing comes into really magnificent play. It's just the best way to end PVRIS' epic first chapter.
Obviously I keep saying 'PVRIS do this' and 'PVRIS do that', but MASSIVE credit is due to Raul Gonzo, who directed all of the White Noise videos. In the age of vine compilations, Twitter and the destruction of everyone's attention spans, it is amazing how Gonzo can take a single concept, however minute, or shoot an interestingly limited variety of footage, and manipulate it to keep people captivated for longer than three minutes. I've been guilty of having the attention span of a brain-damaged goldfish, but the White Noise videos have had me glued to the very last second, and often going back several times (I think I watched 'Mirrors' three times over when it dropped).
As ever, I'd be stoked to hear your opinion. I've been really rather lovely to you and set up a YouTube playlist of the White Noise videos in the order that they were released. Check them out below, and hit me up with your thoughts in the comments section, on the RR Facebook page, or on Twitter... Unless your thoughts are just 'OMG, Lynn Gunn is in her pants!'. I know. Chill out.
Danny
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