Trust Fund - “Football” (Official Video) + Stream Trust Fund No One’s Coming For Us

Ellis Jones, the man behind the sunburst-bright Bristol indie-pop project Trust Fund, already released the album No One’s Coming For Us a few months ago, and he’s already announced plans to follow it up. Next month, we’ll get the new Trust Fund album Seems Unfair, and we’ve already heard first single “Dreams,” which features former Joanna Gruesome singer Alanna McArdle, and an early version of the protest song “Big Asda.” Along with the album announcement, Jones has shared his video for the sprightly, falsetto-laden new song “Football.” In director James Hankins’ clip, Jones and his friends dream their way onto the soccer pitch. An actual football makes a cameo appearance.

Zola Jesus - “Nail” (Official Video)

Zola Jesus is still pumping out videos for songs off her latest album, Taiga (Stream), which came out last October. The last one we got was back in January when “Hunger” was released as a single, and now “Nail” is being given the same treatment. It shares the same shadowy subtlety as the rest of Zola Jesus’ visuals from this era, and was directed by long-time collaborator Jacqueline Castel. Here’s how Castel describes the video in a press release:

The video for ‘Nail’ conceptually explores the dualistic themes of vulnerability and strength, bondage and freedom, death and rebirth in parallel to the lyrical content of the song. “Performing within a custom made sensory deprivation bed built by S&M pioneers Kink Engineering, Nika was sealed between sheets of opaque black latex with a high powered shop vac for each take – a physically aggressive and demanding form of restraint that requires breathing through rubber tubing constructed within the bed. Stripped of the superfluities of the flesh, her performance reveals the surreality of the dehumanized form.

Elliot Moss - "Slip" (Official Video) + Stream "Highspeeds"

Elliot Moss sounds like the love child of Bon Iver and James Blake, so if you’re into either of those artists, you shouldn’t hesitate to check out his album Highspeeds. Maybe that’s an obvious comparison, but it’s accurate af, and you know it. Moss’ voice hovers over his crystalline production like flotsam, and David Svedosh’s video for “Slip” is a gorgeous, brooding meditation on the chasm between the natural world and the human spirit.

A Place To Bury Strangers - "Love High" (Official Video)

A Place To Bury Strangers are still cranking out videos for songs from their most recent album, Transfixation. So far, we’ve got videos for “Straight,” “We’ve Come So Far,” and “What We Don’t See,” and now they’ve shared one for the sub-two-minute track “Love High.” The video is as fast-paced as the song’s runtime, a dizzying collage of the band members walking across the rusted-red walkways of the Williamsburg Bridge. Check it out below.

Diamond Youth - "Thought I Had It Right" (Official Video) + Nothing Matters (Stream)

One iota of distortion into “No Control” is exactly when I became a Diamond Youth fan. Their rippling, bummer euphoria is exactly the kind of breakneck, anthemic guitar music that still appeals to me, and their debut album Nothing Matters comes out today. In anticipation of that, we’re premiering the bloody, black and white video for “Thought I Had It Right.” Some of these riffs remind me of the early years of a band who helped me through my teenage angst, Minneapolis emo-rockers Motion City Soundtrack. Songs that are mostly about regret and fucking up should shred the way this one does, providing momentary relief from remorse. You can also stream the entire album below the video, because after watching it you’re going to want to. Here’s the Max Moore-directed video:

And the full Nothing Matters album stream:

Speedy Ortiz - “The Graduates” (Official Video)

Speedy Ortiz’s sophomore album Foil Deer (Stream) dropped today, and in honor of its release the band has presented the video for its second single “The Graduates.” Matthew Caron directs as Sadie Dupuis encourages her bandmates to drop googly eye tabs concocted in her arts and crafts lab. The band goes on to group-halucinate a giant bunny rabbit, and eventually start tweaking, but not before dosing an entire restaurant’s worth of people. Members of Palehound make a cameo in the diner, and Krill gets a shout-out as Darl Ferm draws up some sort of trip-map? I’m not sure, but this is some choice Ken Kesey shit.

Watch Will Butler’s Furious, Kickass Letterman Performance + Stream Will Butler Policy

Will Butler has been playing with Arcade Fire for upwards of a decade, and he’s evidently spent some time thinking about how he’d present himself if and when he ever went solo. Yesterday, Butler released Policy, his first-ever solo album. Last night, he was the musical guest on the Late Show With David Letterman. And watching that performance, it’s clear that he thought long and hard about how he’d approach the whole thing. There was the unconventional backing band: Keyboardist, stand-up drummer, two backup singers, no bass, no guitar besides his own. There was the tuxedo and the slash of hair across his face. And there was the song: “Take My Side,” a punk song shot through with ’60s girl-group harmonies, played with basement-hardcore intensity. We don’t often hear guitar that sounds that scrambled on late-night TV. It’s a hell of a performance, and you can watch.

Line & Circle - “Mesolithic” (Official Video) + Stream Line & Circle Line & Circle EP

College-rock janglers Line & Circle put out a three-song self-titled EP last fall, and today they dropped the video for “Mesolithic.” The visuals strike me as sort of found art, flipping through old fuzzy footage from different wars and contrasting those clips with shots from the natural world. It creates a disconcerting sort of friction, especially as the song spools on and on without a hitch. Watch to get a disorienting history lesson alongside some flawless California dream pop.

Erase Errata - “History of Handclaps” (Official Video) + Stream Erase Errata Lost Weekend

Erase Errata’s new video for their Lost Weekend track, “History of Handclaps” has the San Francisco-based trio brightening up an empty gallery with a bizarre array of household odds-and-ends. Director Lauryn Siegel layers patterns and textures for a visual that’s as bewilderingly fun as the marriage of post-punk guitars and flailing trumpet. It’s a playful, messy video to match the song’s jagged energy. Who knew cleaning supplies could make such great decor? Read Siegel’s artist statement and watch the video below.

The video is a madcap homage to Fluxus performance events such as Yoko Ono’s famous cut piece, No Wave-era zero budget films and the tension of minimalism and maximalism intermingling in our product saturated digital lives. It speaks to where the band has been as proto post-punk pioneers who were influenced by the true analog greats of the 70s, 80s and 90s, but also where they are going as modern women working, having kids and continuing to make music in an age in which we must all fight for attention. Most of all it’s a commitment to the notion that rock music is ultimately about FUN.

Vince Staples - “Screen Door” (Official Video) + Stream Hell Can Wait EP

Last year, the enormously promising young Long Beach rapper Vince Staples released his Hell Can Wait EP, his-first ever major-label effort, and it was great — as in, one of the best rap records of the year. Staples is planning to release his first proper album Summertime in July, but before that, he’s got a new video for the Hell Can Wait track “Screen Door.” It’s like a lot of rap videos in that it follows Staples as he walks through a run-down neighborhood, rapping at a camera. But it’s not like a lot of rap videos in that it’s an eerie extended allegory, with doors to nowhere and zombified young men sitting around and staring at nothing. Spike Jordan and C. Blacksmith directed the video.

The Sidekicks - “Everything In Twos” (Official Video)

The Sidekicks released their latest album Runners In The Nerved World last week, and when we premiered the album stream a few weeks ago, Chris mentioned that the first time he saw the Sidekicks was at a house show in their shared home base of Columbus, Ohio. The Sidekicks look and sound like the kind of band that you should first be introduced to in someone’s grody basement, overwhelmed by the smell of spilled beer and repugnant body odor. So it’s fitting that the video for “Everything In Twos” revolves around the band performing inside of what could be likened to a crusty version of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse.

YG - “2015 Flow” (Official Video) + Stream YG Blame It On The Streets EP

YG released “2015 Flow,” from the soundtrack to his short film Blame It On The Streets, just in time to protest egregious Grammy snubs for himself and close collaborator DJ Mustard. Now the song has an extremely compelling video that matches Mustard’s ominous minimal production, amplifying the song’s power on the strength of YG’s gripping charisma alone. Watch, and look out for Mustard’s cameo at the end.

Cave People - “Brace” (Official Video) + Stream Cave People Older EP

A little more than a week ago, the Philly-based band Cave People released their 5-song EP Older (Stream), and Chris aptly described it as “triumphantly weary.” The video for their single “Brace” plays off of the song’s recurring lyrics, “I’m dying to see the bad times end,” by splicing together a lot of footage of what look like very good times. Directed by Matt Schimelfenig, the video features Cave People driving through the city, putting together puzzles, and most importantly, playing with a cat.

Literature - “New Jacket” (Official Video) + Stream Literature Chorus

On their album Chorus, the Philadelphia band Literature show an equal love of the ’60s and ’80s forms of jangle. One of their catchiest songs is “New Jacket,” a glimmering lo-fi romp. In its new music video, director Erik Smith shows us a lot of musicians playing and sun shining on residential neighborhoods, and he goes way too heavy on the double exposure. 

S - “Vampires” (Official Video) + Stream "Cool Choices"

“Vampires,” the excellent lead single from Jenn Ghetto’s excellent S album Cool Choices, now has an excellent music video. Directed by Finch Wolfe, it stars Tacocat bassist Bree McKenna as a woman nervously going out in public after a breakup — coping with changes around the house, dealing with judgment from friends, hoping she won’t see her ex. The old haunt McKenna anxiously wanders into happens to be hosting an S concert, so Ghetto and her band make an appearance.

Vince Staples - “Fire” (Official Video) + Stream "Hell Can Wait"

Vince Staples released his new EP Hell Can Wait last week, and now he’s shared the video for “Fire,” which sees him rapping the lyrics to the song in a church while at confession and standing in front of some stained glass. It stands in the shadow of an instant-classic church-themed video that was released a few weeks ago, but there’s no way Staples could have forseen that.

Kindness - “This Is Not About Us” (Official Video)

It’s always nice to learn that someone who makes dance music can actually dance. Next week, Adam Bainbridge, the lanky British disco-pop auteur who records as Kindness, returns with his sophomore album Otherness (Stream). Bainbridge co-directed the video for his single “This Is Not About Us” with Daniel Brereton, and the clip shows him dancing with actual dancer Karla Garcia in front of a flashing LCD screen. Sometimes, they’re in silhouette, and sometimes they aren’t. Either way, Bainbridge can move, and it’s heartening to see a fellow tall motherfucker overcoming the self-consciousness that so often comes with tall-moterfuckerdom. Below, watch the (great) video, and read some words from Bainbridge.

Bainbridge writes:

Some of my favorite videos are simple choreographies — for the “This Is Not About Us” video I wanted to try working with a choreographer and push myself to work on dance in a way that was less free-form and messy. I’m glad to have had the chance to work with Karla [Garcia] and to appreciate even more the role of the choreographer. It’s an ego-less thing to give yourself over to making someone else dance as well as possible, especially when they’re not nearly on your level. Thank you to the crew and Dan for capturing our day together.

Pixies - “Ring The Bell” (Official Video) + Stream Pixies Indie Cindy

Earlier this year, the Pixies released their divisive new collection Indie Cindy and have been putting out music videos intermittently since the their first reunion EP. The latest is for “Ring The Bell” and it was directed by Lital Mizel and Adi Frimmerman, two Pixies fans who recorded a viral video of themselves lip-synching to “Hey” back in 2005. The band met the women at a show in Israel and let them direct and star in their newest music video. The clip for “Ring The Bell” sees them dumpster-diving and hanging out in graffiti-filled abandoned buildings before ending up at a circus-like party in a forest. 

Karen O - “Ooo” Video (Feat. Elle Fanning) (Dir. Spike Jonze) + Stream Karen O Crush Songs

Spike Jonze is arguably the greatest music video director of all time, but he’s mostly retired from the art form. But he just made a quick exception for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs leader Karen O, who just released her debut solo album Crush Songs, an album of quiet acoustic home recordings. The video for the album track “Ooo” is strictly an impromptu affair for Jonze — recorded on the spur of the moment, and possibly without Karen knowing about it, while Jonze and the actress Elle Fanning were preparing to stage a one-act play at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House as part of Fashion Week. The video is just Fanning dancing and mugging across the stage and the backstage area at the Met, and yet it is still somehow unmistakeably a Spike Jonze video. Watch it and read some words from Jonze below.

Jonze writes:

On Sunday we made a one-act play for my friend Humberto’s company, Opening Ceremony. The idea was to do a play instead of a regular fashion show during Fashion Week, and, miraculously, we were able to do it at the New York Metropolitan Opera House. (Thank you, Peter Gelb and everyone at the Met!) Also, this week my dear friend Karen is putting out her first solo album of precious, personal love and heartache gems titled Crush Songs. They are songs made so intimately and spontaneously alone in her bedroom a few years ago that they feel more like unguarded whispers from her heart than a traditionally produced album. So on Sunday, during a ten-minute break as we were rehearsing and lighting at the Met, we made a very impromptu “music video” for Karen in the spirit of her album. It just seemed like if you have the Opera House, that song, and Elle Fanning together, you shouldn’t let the opportunity go by. So we made this as a surprise gift for Karen to congratulate her on her album. She is going to see this for the first time as you do. I hope you enjoy.

(via Vice)

Boots - “Mercy” (Official Video) + Stream

Just a few days ago, Jordy Asher dropped “Mercy,” the first new Boots track since the release of WinterSpringSummerFall, and the Beyoncé-affiliated producer sounded infinitely more energized and confident than he did on his debut mixtape. He just released a video for the track, and introduced it with the message “no more hiding.” It’s the first time Asher steps into the spotlight and takes on a starring role in one of his videos, and he stares at the camera dead-on the whole time, looking battered and bruised.