Brisbane-based super-ska ensemble Fat Picnic make it abundantly clear that sometimes even the biggest of upbeat bands cannot move the stubborn sleeper. It doesn’t stop them from giving it a red-hot go and having fun along the way, and the music video for Don’t Wanna Get up will certainly make you rise up no matter what.
Fat Picnic prove they’ll try anything to make audiences move. From chainsaws to teabagging (with actual tea bags) to the use of megaphones and trumpet solos which reflect the refreshingly youthful energy intrinsic to the band’s high-energy sound.
We’ve all been there before. Alarm singing its annoying call to get up and get your day started. This is exactly the case for our pitiable protagonist who should be commended for being able to remain horizontal to the mega blasts of horns and off-beat drums which are you usually an infallible cure for the solitary stander or in this case, sleeper.
In a one-day shoot, Fat Picnic along with their incredible production crew have magically transformed a PCYC squash court into a set that looks remarkably like a large bedroom space. Here, everyone in the delightfully big band try their luck at rustling up the sleeper, often in hilariously entertaining ways.
The clever use of single-source red lighting and haze effects transfers us into a nightmarish sequence of the subconscious, as the song’s bridge foreshadows the finale of what is already an exhaustively exciting tune.
Finally, we erupt into all-out color-powder party warfare as Fat Picnicalong with friends in unicorn onesies send torrents of a careless joy mixed with swimming noodles and colored balls, down upon our drowsy looking protagonist who tries to protect himself to little avail with a skimpy, see-through umbrella.
The video, which shares a subtle narrative with their earlier single and video release Make Me Wait, is the exciting and compelling teaser to their long-awaited album release, set to drop in just over a week.
With a list of shows as long as your arm coming up along the country’s East Coast including an appearance or two at Woodford Folk Festival over new year, you’d be a fool to miss Fat Picnic live in action.
Stream the rest of their brilliantly upbeat tunes through the Spotify link below:
