Walter TV, “Surf Metal”

Post Author: Mike Sosnick
Walter TV, "Surf Metal"

Embedded in the Montreal-based wackiness that spawned Mac DeMarco (and having spent time touring as his backing band), Walter TV are unsurprisingly trippy. Their sophomore LP, Blessed, teetered on the edge of sanity, with blissed-out guitars and distant vocals leading the carefully composed meandering of “Surf Metal“.

That the Cole Kush-directed video for “Surf Metal” is as head-spinningly odd as the track itself should come as no surprise. The video opens with 3D-animated footage seemingly plucked from a Taiwanese news reenactment, with digital cameos from Walter TV’s similarly out-there friends, including DeMarco, Andy White (Tonstartssbandht), and Jerry Paper. Nestled deep in the uncanny valley, the weight room weirdness then spirals into neo-psychedelic insanity, fueled by an aesthetic straight out of storied PlayStation video game-cum-art experiment LSD: Dream Emulator. “Surf Metal” and its video storm ahead together without much rhyme or reason, but their collective zaniness blends elegantly thanks to Walter TV’s kaleidoscopic vision.

Walter TV tour dates:

October
13 Philadelphia PA at Trocadero Theatre*
14 Washington DC at The Howard Theatre*
15 Asheville NC at Orange Peel*
16 Atlanta GA at Variety Playhouse*
17 New Orleans LA at Civic Theatre*
18 Houston TX at Warehouse Live*
19 Dallas TX at House Of Blues*
20 Austin TX at Stubb’s BBQ*
22 Tucson AZ at The Rialto Theatre*
30 Vancouver BC at Commodore Ballroom&

*with Mac DeMarco & Alex Calder
&with Mac DeMarco, Alex Calder & Courtneys