Phantogram, the music duo formerly known as Charlie Everywhere, released video for their song, “Funeral Pyre” that is as visually stunning as it is demonically thoughtful. From Greenwich, New York, Phantogram formed in 2007 with Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel. Carter does vocals and guitar; Barthel plays the keyboard and sings. Phantogram’s sound spans across more than one genre. Electro rock, dream pop, electronica, trip hop—the soul of their music focuses on complex rhythm and creating songs that sound like beamed messages from outer space, but in a good way, as if received from some seriously musical aliens.
The video for “Funeral Pyre” takes its audience on a tour of L.A. in the passenger seat of a car. The progression goes from light to dark, both in terms of the time of day and the nature of the witnessed views. Starting at the beach, an admittedly odd place to be driving a car, two surfers—a man and woman—walk presumably toward the ocean. They are attractive. The car’s journey is inwards, from the coast towards the city center. The journey, given the nature of the scenes witnessed, seems to head personally inwards, too, as if everything happening outside the car is a reflection of those inside it, or of the society as a whole.
In the suburbs, or nice areas of L.A., scenes of luxurious debauchery abound. A rich man motorboats a woman in a glittering gold dress next to a fancy car, parked outside of an expensive house. There are scenes of religion—a group of nuns loitering on a street corner, a Hasidic Jew eyeing the inside of the car. Also: cheerleaders, topless maids, a father throwing his son in the air, laughing; murals, a block party, a skateboarder. The daytime illuminates all of these scenes.
As darkness falls on Los Angeles, the silently observing passenger becomes witness to much darker material. A man and women in dispassionate coitus behind a car, in the middle of the street. Graffiti, fire, strange men and women, empty parking garages. Fights, break-ins—as the content gets less and less legal, the characters involved take on a villainous quality. Men in masks, a woman screaming outside a psychic’s shop, a man and woman involved in some public BDSM. Then finally: fireman running toward a scene. The car keeps driving until it reaches the vantage of the hills, and sees downtown L.A., burning. The funeral pyre is L.A.
Photography Credit: Owen Ela
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