There’s something extremely indulgent about parking yourself on a couch with a couple of mates, guzzling down your weapon of choice and laughing your arse off at hilariously tacky videos from the 70s and 80s on Music Max. Those videos have a sort of magical sheen that is almost impossible to replicate these days; the sickeningly synchronized dancing, the outfits, the drug-fueled virility and, of course, the hair.
These are the components to the perfect music video clip, as made clear by Sex On Toast‘s new one for Oh Loretta! They have it nailed down to the last detail – they even got Molly Meldrum in on it, and you can’t get much better than that.
Watch Sex On Toast bring the manic virility of the 70s to their new single Oh Loretta! in all it’s sequin-jacketed, disco-balling, head-exploding glory.
Gone are the times where artists employ massive production value in their film clips, with huge teams of set designers, cinematographers, make-up artists, and choreographers. Those kinds of things are usually contained to, ironically, the relatively niche market of big name pop acts. These days are all about smart, cheap ideas and a pretty decent camera. Well, for most bands anyway.
Sex On Toast are one of those all-out revivalist bands. What Client Liaison do for the 90s, Sex On Toast are doing for the late 70s/early 80s. Their new single Oh Loretta! harkens back to the days of the super slick pop production coming out of LA, with all its bravado and extravagance. The track is a frolicking beast of a song, sexual and sensual, camp as hell with elements of macho funk and disco. The track alone is spanking clean in production, and the lyrics are pure perfection: “Oh Loretta, if you were a bus you would be double decker” (What a line, I might have to steal it), but the video… oh, the video.
Directed by Yoav Lester, the clip is penned as a modern homage to shows from the late 70s/early 80s like Top of The Pops and Countdown, but it’s so much more than that. Molly (alongside his dog friend, Ziggy #4) introduces the clip before the sexy opening riff swoops in alongside a magnificent montage of a sparkling disco ball, spit sensually pouring from a trumpet’s spit valve, and a crowd swooning to Sex On Toast in all their ten piece, sequin-jacketed, narcotic-charged glory.
Mullet-adorned, aviator wearing and sweat-slicked, the band groove. Singer Angus Leslie is mesmerising – his contorted face, manic smile and sunken eyes are devilish – and the crowd are enthralled. As the track progresses their faces begin to lose colour and the sweat begins to pour, and fever seems to be taking hold. The music is like a mysterious illness as the crowd slowly seem to be losing consciousness. The camera tilts druggily as blood seeps from their noses, all the while Leslie cackles and fawns over the crowd. A majestic sax solo takes hold as one fan falls to his knees, delirious. A piano trills before his head explodes; Sex On Toast literally blew his mind.
By now the band have reached peak virility, manically singing the classic “da-da-da” refrain, covered in their fan’s blood while the crowd dance around their fallen comrade’s corpse. Before you can wrap around what the fuck just happened Molly and Ziggy are back to give Sex On Toast his props and of course say “Goodnight Australia.”
What a clip.
Oh Loretta! is the first track from a two-part EP called Rough/Ready. The Ready EP is due out later this year. Sex On Toast are heading on tour for the single too, if the clip is anything to go by it’s going to be a blinder. Details below:
June 19, Good God Small Club, Sydney w/ Venusians and The Liberators. Tickets
June 20, The Toff, Melbourne w/ The Cactus Channel and Peter Bibby. Tickets
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