Video of the Week: The Ononos “Body for Body”

I didn’t even really like living in Seattle but whenever anyone writes the city’s music culture off as strictly grunge or bearded, overwrought indie pop, I have to focus on not losing my shit. Seattle’s a fucking weird place musically, more so than my new home of Austin even though Austin has a weirdo mantra it likes to plaster everywhere. I could throw you a million examples but for today let’s just focus on electro-Residents freaks the Ononos, who have finally followed up on their magnum opus “Nonono” with “Body for Body,” some kind of bizarro take on Pet Shop Boys and that obscure John Cusack/Tim Robbins anti-MTV flick Tapeheads.

“Body for Body’s” predecessor “Nonono” is an adenoidal electro-punk number that at least features a melody, but “Body for Body” is delivered in a murky monotone somewhere between “Vogue” and “West End Girls,” except the video has the anonymous, creepy Ononos decked out in white suits, chains, jock straps and top hats. Oh, and their signature black morphsuits. There are dancers in aerobic outfits with black veils obscuring their faces, and leggings that make them look like they’re cloven hooved and a red, white and black background visual assault that looks like a Target ad gone haywire, but the focus is squarely on the Ononos and their inhuman movements. As always, they look like reptilian shadow demons approximating human dances, but what’s not to love about that? Fuck keeping Austin weird, let’s start calling more attention to how fucking strange the Emerald City is under that disguise of Berkenstock-and-socks clad tech pioneers and sensitive bespectacled hollow men.

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Nick Hanover got his degree from Disneyland, but he’s the last of the secret agents and he’s your man. Which is to say you can find his particular style of espionage here at Loser City as well as Ovrld, where he contributes music reviews and writes a column on undiscovered Austin bands.  You can also flip through his archives at  Comics Bulletin, which he is formerly the Co-Managing Editor of, and Spectrum Culture, where he contributed literally hundreds of pieces for a few years. Or if you feel particularly adventurous, you can always witness his odd .gif battles with friends and enemies on twitter: @Nick_Hanover