by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Oakland’s W0RK (featuring members of Exit Group) released Paper, their latest EP, back in April via Side Machine Records, a futuristic dystopian pop record filtered through post-punk and experimental electronic music. The duo have a rich aesthetic that involves hi-tech business attire and plenty of retro-futurism, and it all comes to life on their new video for EP stand-out “Screen Eyes.”
Directed by VideoMilk’s Daniel Schmatz (who also directed Nopes’ “Immersion” video which we had the pleasure of premiering last Summer) and staring the aforementioned Nopes’ Gabe Simmons, the space-age anthem begins with a rush of blips and bleeps, dialing itself in before the wide width of the synths send out their frequencies to the otherside. As the rhythm plinks back and forth with robotic detachment, we follow our protagonist as he makes his way into work. Seemingly a mundane start, things get progressively more sci-fi as his job involves plenty of body monitoring gear, mysterious liquids, candy, and of course mind-altering laserdiscs. We watch as he travels from one reality into new, virtual realities, until sensory overload kicks in and it all goes wrong.
W0RK will present next at the Festival De La Cour Denis in Lormes, France on July 26. They are also finalizing logistics to take their presentation across the Western U.S.A., beginning the end of August.