The band name is written in all capital letters. Its members hail from Munich, Zurich, London and Regensburg. The single is entitled, rather affectionately, “THE POP SONG”. Images of SNL’s old “Sprockets” sketch are swirling in my head well before I even start watching the song’s new music video. I wonder what this band is playing at. What is their experiment? I’m convinced they must be up to something.
Thankfully, the music video for the “THE POP SONG” doesn’t have any of the “Ants! Ants! Ants!” that Mike Myers and Dana Anderson made famous. Instead the video, as well as the song itself, played out much more like Wheatus’s 90’s hit, “Teenage Dirtbag”. It told a very linear story that was extraordinarily familiar, the tale of a boy in love and his quest to get the girl of his dreams to like him, at least at first.
The scene is set with sexy images of a posing Micaela Schäfer (a beautiful and accomplished singer, model and DJ in her own right), as the object of the protagonist’s affection. Over the course of the video, the band members’ advances are met ignored and spurned one by one by Micaela’s character increasingly embarrassing and hilarious ways. Love notes are tossed in the trash and thoughtful serenades are drowned-out by Micaela’s headphones. All the while the lyrics to “THE POP SONG” lament that there must be something the boys can do to win her heart. Eventually, a somber image of the guitarist practicing alone in the high school halls mirrors a shift in the song’s thematic tone. The band has decides to stop chasing the girl and instead, chooses to do their own thing, namely, make awesome music for the world to enjoy. Footage of ANFOL on stage performing for large crowds dominates the last bits of the video while the still stunning Micaela Schäfer is dragged away from an attempt to see the band backstage.
At the end of the day, ANFOL’s record “THE POP SONG” did have a couple tricks up its sleeve. The story arch of the music video does a pretty slick job of exploring the evolution of an artist’s motivation as they learn and grow. Often it develops from the fulfillment of some local desire like pleasing a hot girl in school to a more universal idea of just making good art and having a fun time. All in all the song and video were a lot of fun and definitely worth checking out, even if only for the shots of Micaela Schäfer touching up her make-up. I like it.
– iLikeZach
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkKUAiBgR-o
