Watery scenes and milky black-and-white imagery of the Brooklyn docks embody the mystifying sound of “Doctor M”, the new video and single from Grooms. The video, which was put together by drummer Steve Levine (yes, the guy from Better Call Saul), opens up with several establishing shots of moon-bathed waterside scenery around the Brooklyn Bridge. The introduction of a couple of sheet-covered, ghost-like figures wandering through foraged pathways and entering the DUMBO carnival scenery echoes the doom-surf vibe and creep-falsetto singing of frontman Travis Johnson, creating an aura of purgatorial estrangement.
The song seeps into and out of catchy guitar riffs between verse and chorus, never approaching dissonance, but remaining tensely delicate throughout. Meanwhile an arpeggio-driven bassline and organ-synth underlay a constant foundation of gravity for what is otherwise a cool indie-pop tune. A lengthy ambient interlude concludes the track, with the sheet-people bellowing in the wind, and blurred images on the screen, giving an almost otherworldly, Kubrick-esque feel of the beyond, or the deeply insightful.
Comb the Feelings Through Your Hair, is out now on Western Vinyl.
