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January 19, 2009

New Empire Of The Sun Video - "We Are The People"

thumbnail icon: New Empire Of The Sun Video - "We Are The People"

The BBC picked Empire Of The Sun to be a 2009 Breakout Act. The Australian duo were already hitting their marks when they released the "Walking On A Dream" video in '08 with "Sleepy Jackson's Luke Steele and PNAU's Nick Littlemore" affixed, but it's easier picking breakout bands that way. (My prediction: Animal Collective in '09.) In the last video the duo were visiting Shanghai. In this new Josh Logue-directed clip, we find them trekking to Garcia, Xilitla, and the Icamole Desert, Mexico, where they're dressed like MGMT Day Of The Dead Mummers. You'll understand the storyline better if you can read Spanish. At the very least, though, pay attention to the angry guy on the bike.

Walking On A Dream is out in Australia via EMI. It's out 2/23 on Virgin in the UK. You'll find out more at the official album site.

Posted at 10:43 AM by brandon in
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19 Comments

I've been liking this genre of music more lately, but this band makes me second guess myself. They couldn't break out of a paper bag.

Posted by: d@ve at 01/19/09 11:07 AM  | Reply
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You have to wet the paper bag to get the full cliche effect.

Posted by: TD  in reply to d@ve's comment at 01/19/09 7:13 PM  | Reply
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this is such a blatant rip off of mgmt.

Posted by: fran at 01/19/09 11:36 AM  | Reply
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sorry to burst your bubble Fran, but this Empire of The Sun project started out waaaaay before MGMT blew. That album has been on the internets since the Fall and the single was out way back in the summer. MGMT are way overrated and suck live. They made a great EP (with the big singles) but the album isn't all that (either is The Empire of the Sun, really). These groups owe everything to the Scissors Sisters and Of Montreal.....

Posted by: teh-thomas  in reply to fran's comment at 01/19/09 3:49 PM  | Reply
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Whatever... It came out after MGMT. So they had a responsibility to do something new. They could have found a new aesthetic, at least, since the sound is so similar. And your claims are unsubstantiated anyway.

Posted by: hunter w. profile link  in reply to teh-thomas's comment at 01/19/09 4:53 PM  | Reply
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I love this song. And the video reminds me of Tarsem's film, The Fall, which I love too.

Posted by: parker young profile link at 01/19/09 12:16 PM  | Reply
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Ahahaha, seriously? Nice "costumes." This is 17 different types of terrible.

Posted by: karl at 01/19/09 12:51 PM  | Reply
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I think I would be able to enjoy this band a great deal more if they didn't give me the impression of being such assholes. Typical Killers complex

Posted by: Run Run Riot profile link at 01/19/09 1:03 PM  | Reply
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Now, you see, I always designated that as the Oasis complex.
But Killers work too.

Posted by: Josh is like Germany Ambitious and Misunderstood profile link  in reply to Run Run Riot's comment at 01/19/09 1:43 PM  | Reply
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i really like this.
and the whole asshole persona is exactly what they are going for, it fits the song in a good way, makes them seem bigger than life.....which is necessary to becoming memorable band like u2 or some shit

Posted by: non hater at 01/19/09 2:19 PM  | Reply
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this band is awesome. loads better than mgmt

Posted by: wally at 01/19/09 2:32 PM  | Reply
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i find myself strangely attracted to this song

Posted by: echi at 01/19/09 11:05 PM  | Reply
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If you check back on Sleepy Jackson's 'Personality' album of 2006 (and some songs on 'Lovers' from 2003), you'll see that Luke Steele has been into this look ('Luke Steele as god') and this sound for quite some time. And Nick Littlemore is from Pnau, which has traded in disco-influenced electronic music since the late 1990s. I don't think MGMT have much to do with the Empire of the Sun's inception or sound, but may have something to do with why people are currently paying attention.

Posted by: Rykwert profile link at 01/20/09 5:34 AM  | Reply
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nick littlemore's poses get more hilarious with each song. I expect him to be levitating by the next single.

song: not as good, video: better.

Posted by: adelaide at 01/20/09 5:52 AM  | Reply
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this band is like my feminine side. but MGMT is my masculine side.

Posted by: kinky Jude at 01/20/09 6:35 AM  | Reply
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I'm sure that if I heard this enough, i'd find this as catchy as any other pop song. But the video make is a little hard for me to take it seriously.

Posted by: Biblio_a_gogo profile link at 01/20/09 2:29 PM  | Reply
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A little lite lyrically. Somewhat hummable. But not worth a second listen.

Posted by: imarobot at 01/20/09 9:40 PM  | Reply
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Guess what has nothing to do with MGMT? This.

Posted by: Sean Jean at 01/21/09 9:10 AM  | Reply
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Anything Luke Steele does is worth a listen. The Empire Of The Sun album is quite good, maybe better taken in doses as singles, but good nonetheless.

Plus Josh Logue filming these videos with the Oakley R.E.D. camera makes everything look gorgeous. So Luke Steele likes to dress up, big deal.

Posted by: Joel-Yggoy at 01/31/09 5:03 PM  | Reply
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