The triumphant (or rather triumphalist) return of the tri-cornered hat may go down as the most dubious – certainly the most strident – fashion (err- political?) trend of 2010. But who knew it would trickle down to the unwashed masses of New England’s indie punk scenes so quickly. Already this year, we’ve seen Titus Andronicus go all Revolutionary (while quoting pre-Presidential Abraham Lincoln) with their video for “A More Perfect Union”. Now, from Worcester, Massachusetts, we have the band Four Year Strong paying earnest tribute to the soldiers of the American Revolution in their video for “Tonight We Feel Alive (On a Saturday)”.
It’s a near-perfect video for both the song and the band in that the beautifully shot battle scenes match the song’s urgency, while the story highlights and is strengthened by the vocal interplay between the group’s three vocalists. It’s one of those rare feats where the video and the song are each better because of the other. It’s also a nice showcase for the band’s bounty of facial hair (including singer Dan O’Connor’s “expressive eyebrows”).
You get a sense from the video that the band is pretty politically engaged, but at the same time, it’s pretty impossible to discern where there political sympathies lie; and the truth is the video itself isn’t at all political. It’s just a good, simply told story set to a song that, however confrontational in tempo and delivery, is maddeningly vague. My favorite couplet:
You asked, What would I stand for?
The truth is: I STAND FOR THIS!
I have to say, that hits pretty close to home in a state (Wisconsin) that just un-elected one of the country’s most diligent, principled Senators in favor of a self-funded cypher. Check out the video:
A couple weeks ago, the band, who outed themselves as unabashed 90s nostalgists with their 2009 covers album Explains It All, posted a new, “pop-up” version of the video. Enjoy:
