Thursday, August 13, 2015

NYC duo "unveil" new video (and themselves), play Shiprocked! tonight



Making a living as a band can be an arduous task for an independent outfit like Brooklyn-based Israeli duo Hank & Cupcakes, who put on one of the most genuine intensely fun live shows around and play Snug Harbor tonight. But in the internet era of DIY, it's truly amazing what someone with vision and adaptability can create in their hotel room shower.

Enter Hanks & Cupcakes' new video for "Shut Up" - the fourth clip from the album "Ca$h 4 Gold." The married couple filmed the music video in their hotel shower while touring through Tulsa, Oklahoma. That statement may conjure up a number of assumptions or questions. Is this a reenactment of "Psycho?" Does it depict a dingy heroine-chic car crash? Is it super risque? Downright homemade looking? How interesting could something filmed in a tiny shower be?

If you know anything about H&C, then you can trust it'll be visually compelling, but you wouldn't be wrong to wonder in what way? Check out the above clip, which is groundbreaking in its simplicity, yet sophisticated and visually compelling like a Herb Ritts photo meets avant garde art pop or pop-art. The song's lovely too. The pair are nude, but the video is carefully edited as to disguise all the naughty bits beneath strategically placed hands and steam. And it's actually not really sexual at all. It's in fact quite beautiful.

You can catch Hank & Cupcakes live tonight at Snug Harbor during Shiprocked's Pride week blow-out featuring gay rap icon Cazwell, Hank & Cupcakes, one man band/puppet master Your Fuzzy Friends, and drag diva Bethann Phetamine.

If you're heading out to Snug you may want to get there early or purchase a ticket online beforehand. Shiprocked is a hugely popular weekly fixture in Plaza-Midwood and with this Pride lineup, should sell out.