Written by: Jen Dan
If you came of age in the 1980s and remember what videocassette tapes are, then the video for “Tech Noir” by synthwave trio Gunship (Dan Haigh, Alex Westaway, and Alex Gingell) will be a blast from your pop culture past.
The synth/electro-pop act has released a string of spectacularly creative videos, from the graphic design animation of “Fly For Your Life” to “The Mountain”, the first music video made using the PC version of Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto 5, to the computer animation of “Revel In Your Time” which features retro video game graphics. Gunship continues its inventive trend with the accompanying video for its latest tune, “Tech Noir” (a titularly knowing nod to the dance club in The Terminator). The video is a stop-motion Claymation tour de force from Lee Hardcastle that celebrates and pokes fun at the grade B (or lower) splatterfest flicks of the 80s, but you don’t have to be of a certain age range or an aficionado of all the films to enjoy the video’s awesome storyline.
The video takes a journey through star-crossed, and then star-aligned, love that takes place both in reality and in the Claymation world, with an everyday human guy being transported into the Claymation landscape and transformed into Robocop, attempting to win the fight and save the girl of his dreams. During his treacherous trek he comes face-to-face with slew of baddies including Jason from the Friday the 13th series, an alien from… Aliens, and Pinhead from Hellraiser. The guy hero uses his trusty set of dusty videotapes to transmogrify into a bevy of fictional characters including Rocky, He-Man, and a cameo that is just way too fuzzy – I mean funny – to divulge here. Just know that the hero battles the last villain, who shall also remain unnamed, in a valiant effort to save the girl, and save the day, and it’s a totally epic and excellent adventure – to the max!
Gunship’s ingenious videos tend to overshadow the band’s actual songs and with “Tech Noir” it’s no different, but it’s still a strong song in its own right. The song gives a gently and yearningly melancholic spin to the video with its airy male vocals smoothly sighing “It was all for love…” over the delicately draped, diaphanous synth lines, brightly sparkling electronic sonics, and softly pulsing Motorik tempo.
A righteously rad tune, I kid you not!
