Here It Goes, Here It Goes Again

August 3, 2006 10:52 AM

Rock Band OK Go's new video is a single-take masterpiece of amusing treadmill-dance choreography that left me smiling & humming the tune. These guys really like dancing in their videos
posted by lilbrudder (38 comments total)

That's pretty neat, actually. Nice job.

OK GO still sucks.
posted by psmealey at 10:57 AM on August 3, 2006

Ha. Sometimes the single-link YouTube FPPs are worth it. I laughed, I cried. I especially like the parts where they look like they're skating.
posted by Schlimmbesserung at 10:58 AM on August 3, 2006

why you gotta be hatin' on a catchy song?
posted by jonson at 10:58 AM on August 3, 2006

Reminds me of a Jamiroquai video, from back when kids still knew what videos were. The skating effect was the only really cool part, I'd say.
posted by Keith Talent at 11:00 AM on August 3, 2006

Good stuff.
posted by chunking express at 11:03 AM on August 3, 2006

Keith: This one?
posted by Schlimmbesserung at 11:04 AM on August 3, 2006

Keith -- I thought the same thing. It's like J's Virtual Insanity, but all K-mart stylee.
posted by bpm140 at 11:06 AM on August 3, 2006

Ruby Dare..THAT was a band!
posted by mds35 at 11:09 AM on August 3, 2006

I love it. And not only because OK Go is my favorite band ever.
posted by donajo at 11:13 AM on August 3, 2006

Ha... they're amazing live. The dance for "A Million Ways" was a very cool as an encore.... I wonder if they'll be travelling with treadmills now
posted by BlzOfGlry at 11:18 AM on August 3, 2006

Super sweet. Let's install some treadmills in front of the gazebo and see what Hat Man and Yellow Shirt come up with.
posted by maryh at 11:20 AM on August 3, 2006

They're so damn smart.
posted by redsparkler at 11:26 AM on August 3, 2006

I'm loathe to give any encouragement to yet another YouTube FPP. But that bit where they were "ice skating" was ruttin' awesome.

But rock is still clearly dead. And all this buggery won't bring it back.
posted by poweredbybeard at 11:29 AM on August 3, 2006

Yep. DIY Jamiroquai.
posted by unknowncommand at 11:30 AM on August 3, 2006

Their choreographer deserves an award. Consistently good stuff for non-pro "dancers".
posted by dobbs at 11:31 AM on August 3, 2006

And like Jamiroquai, the clever video goes a long way to cover up the fact that the song and the band suck god awful. Its a powerful medium, this video thing. I bet it has legs.
posted by ChasFile at 11:32 AM on August 3, 2006

IIRC, their choreographer is Damian's (the lead singer, wearing red pants in the video) sister Trish, who is a professional ballroom dancer.
posted by donajo at 11:33 AM on August 3, 2006

I was all set to hate on Y.A. Youtube link, but this was a lot of fun. Thanks.
posted by adamrice at 11:44 AM on August 3, 2006

The lead singer had an interesting op ed about DRM in the NY Times back in December- they were nearly infected by their label with the infamous Sony Rootkit Malware:

Luckily, my band's recently released album, "Oh No," escaped copy control, but only narrowly. When our album came out, our label's parent company, EMI, was testing protective software and thought we were a good candidate for it. Record company executives reasoned that because we appeal to college students who have the high-bandwidth connections necessary for getting access to peer-to-peer networks, we're the kind of band that gets traded instead of bought.

That may be true, but we are also the sort of band that hasn't yet gotten the full attention of MTV and major commercial radio stations, so those college students are our only window onto the world. They are our best chance for success, and we desperately need them to be listening to us, talking about us, coming to our shows and yes, trading us.

posted by jenkinsEar at 11:44 AM on August 3, 2006

Yes, like ChasFile, I wonder about this video thing... I wonder if you could have TV station that would broadcast them?
posted by anthill at 11:51 AM on August 3, 2006

I liked the pink clothing, but not the grey backdrop.
posted by Tube at 12:12 PM on August 3, 2006

But rock is still clearly dead.

Good. Rock sucked anyhow.
posted by mr.curmudgeon at 12:19 PM on August 3, 2006

poweredbybeard: "But rock is still clearly dead. And all this buggery won't bring it back."

Long live paper and scissors!

I'm glad they were able to make another as good as the first. That's a rare trait.
posted by ewagoner at 12:27 PM on August 3, 2006

I watched this last night on the 'Tube but I quickly lost interest. It's the same gimmick as their last video, which was moderately entertaining. They obviously went to the effort to put up a backdrop, but they chose an utterly boring one. Change the setting, make it at least a little interesting. The treadmills are okay but that gimmick lost its novelty for me in the first 15 seconds.

Meh. OK Go is thus solidified in my mind as "those guys who dress poorly and make low budget dancing videos."
posted by polyhedron at 12:27 PM on August 3, 2006

Cool video, though I wonder if it wouldn't have been even more fun to watch had they used multiple cameras and worked more on the symmetry. Seemed kind of cut and paste to me, despite the novelty of the routine.
posted by dead_ at 12:29 PM on August 3, 2006

Awesome!!

Youtube is the best. I've loved every youtube FPP that's come up. If that makes me a bad person, then that's something I'll just have to learn to live with!!
posted by illuminatus at 1:14 PM on August 3, 2006

I liked it-- not quite as good as the first video, but still fun. My first thought was, "Their stage show is going to require a lot of floor space." But on second thought, I doubt they'll tour with this. Unlike "A Million Ways" this video probably doesn't look nearly as cool from an angle.
posted by justkevin at 1:24 PM on August 3, 2006

How the hell did these guys film this without one of them breaking a hip?
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 1:37 PM on August 3, 2006

the song and the band suck god awful.

I don't understand this. It's not high art, sure, but it's well done pop-rock, and more important, they're just fun.
posted by weston at 2:38 PM on August 3, 2006

id love to hate em
but theyre single handledly bringing back creative music videos
and showing record labels that you dont have to break the bank to provide a video for the artists.
posted by tsarfan at 3:28 PM on August 3, 2006

How the hell did these guys film this without one of them breaking a hip?

That's kinda what I was thinking, except for a diff body part. I've had numerous ankle sprains from volleyball over the years, so I cringed every time they jumped hard onto a moving track. Something I can only dream of doing... when I do dream about dancing on treadmills.
posted by shortfuse at 4:03 PM on August 3, 2006

the song and the band suck god awful.

Yeah, I learned the hard way the other day that the price for linking youtube is to get a page full of "your favorite band sucks." Live and learn, I guess.

Yep. DIY Jamiroquai.

I rewatched that Virtual Insanity video, though, and yup, that song really was (and is) just plain bad. Wehn I was 18, though, the video was enough to send me out with my hard-earned fifteen dollars to waste it on piss-poor space disco.

"But rock is still clearly dead. And all this buggery won't bring it back."

Yup, It started with the first bad company record.
posted by Navelgazer at 5:22 PM on August 3, 2006

I liked it.
posted by delmoi at 5:50 PM on August 3, 2006

As testament to how catchy this tune really is, it was running through my the whole way through my leisurely afternoon wank.
posted by kfx at 6:22 PM on August 3, 2006 [1 favorite]

through my mind, that is.
posted by kfx at 6:22 PM on August 3, 2006

I love it!
posted by patr1ck at 7:06 PM on August 3, 2006

On a scale of one to ten, this was awesome.
posted by slimepuppy at 2:02 AM on August 4, 2006

No opinion whatsoever about the song, but the video was just fantastic.
posted by 2or3whiskeysodas at 11:06 AM on August 4, 2006