Following the June 9th release of their full-length debut album Family Hangover, Halifax-based band Walrus has put out their second music video of the album for the track ‘Later Days’. It gives a momentary glimpse into the lives of these four guys on a dull day, but in reverse.
Existing within their self-proclaimed genre of “everything you love,” Walrus succeeds in keeping their listeners guessing which move—or sound—they will make next.
As track number one, ‘Later Days’ sets a hazy psychedelic tone for the album. The echoey vocals are reminiscent of Arcade Fire and the slow guitar riffs give a classic psychedelic-folk feel. Ambient sounds over a heavy drum breakdown give the song an authentic, experimental twist and helps demonstrate their vast sound variance.
The video takes place entirely outside of a house and was produced and filmed with the help of friends Jeff Miller and Mike Bromley. As one carefully-planned clip played in reverse and in slow motion, the clip comes full circle—literally and figuratively—by both starting and ending with the band members passed out in the grass. This was achieved by actually circling the outside of the house.
“To make it all work to the length of the song, we had to film the entire shot in under one minute. It’s one continuous shot, so everything had to go right and the camera just followed us around the house,” says band member Jordan Murphy. “Basically, we all started on the grass, and once you were out of the frame you had to sprint around the house for your place in the next shot and then run back to the backyard to get in place for the ending.”
The rest of the video shows the band members doing various activities like climbing trees, painting, skateboarding and even smashing a guitar. The imagery gives the impression of a dazed morning after a party and contains an odd mix of anger, confusion and haziness that fits well with the song’s psychedelic feel.
Filming an entire music video within just one minute sets it apart from Walrus’s other music videos and illustrates their ongoing creativity.