MGMT - "Cool Song No. 2" (Genre theory)

Track: Cool Song No. 2
Artist: MGMT
Genre: Synthpop, Psychedelic/ indie-rock
Release: 17th September 2013

Music Video Director: Isaiah Seret







MGMT are an American psychedelic rock band, founded by Benjamin Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden in 2002. The other band members are as follows; Matthew Asti (bass), James Richardson (drums) and Hank Sullivant (guitar).

                         


The opening of "Cool Song No. 2" amplifies the track and therefore uses aspects of the psychedelic rock genre; this is is as the light reflections in the protagonist's glasses create a rather vivid pattern as the camera tracks back from him walking. Psychedelic rock is influenced and inspired by the effects of mind-altering drugs, attempting to replicate the experience of this through the music; therefore, this is amplifying the music and genre within the music video as the glasses are mimicking "trippy" effects someone on a drug like acid may see.

Still from "Leon".

This shot also creates an intertextual reference to the film "Leon", the costume and aspects of mise-en-scene (such as reflections in glasses) both cement a heavy link, supporting Katie Wales' theory about genre as an intertextual concept, referencing "Leon" allows us to better understand the narrative of the music video; however, I will expand upon how later in my analysis. Additionally, being introduced to the protagonist at a low-angle shot instantly associates the character with power, allowing conclusions to be drawn about the character right from the beginning.

The psychedelic genre is again referenced at 00:08, the use of strobe lighting in the background of a tracking shot is illustrative again of this genre. This is as strobe lighting is popular within psychedelic music videos as it as an aspect, that yet again aims to induce the same mesmerising effects of drugs such as LSD and acid. Moreover, relating to Nicholas Abercrombie's idea that genres permit the creation and maintenance of a loyal audience which becomes used to seeing programmes within a genre; this is as loyal audiences of psychedelic genres tend to occasionally take recreational drugs, therefore, the video aims to maintain this sensation through factors such as strobe lights to induce psychedelic effects.



At 00:12, the protagonist is seen driving in very low-key lighting, reflecting from his car, this appears to reference the neo-noir genre; the chiaroscuro lighting combined with the modern vehicle emitting a blue tint connote progressive twists on the classic noir genre. Therefore, abiding by Jaques Derrida's ideas that a text cannot belong to no genre, but instead to one or many, in the case of this music video so far, psychedelic and neo-noir. In addition, the shot used seems to intertextually reference "Drive", a neo-noir crime film directed by Nicholas Winding Refn through similar shot type, lightning and action; further supporting the idea that the music video also belongs to the neo-noir genre.

  Furthermore, the lyrics and mise-en-scene around this sequence is very reflective of genre. For example, the lyrics are "Whenever I drift by the unknown, feign like I notice a fundamental tone, the fine petals open and close offended, poor explanation and nothing shown". These lyrics describe being on drugs in order to enter a consciousness that allows for insight in to true reality, however, despite best effort this desired insight is not received. Therefore, relating to the origins of the psychedelic rock genre; in the early

1960's, LSD and other hallucinogens were recommended by well-known philosophers and psychologists in their writings as a means of conscious expansion. In turn, influencing musicians to take hallucinogens in order to allow for better creativity and insertion of true depth to their music.

Additionally, the meaning of these lyrics also allows it to be reflective of the music video; the protagonist uses violence as a means of relinquishing himself from the emotions he feels (such as anger and sadness), but these feelings are on-going and never resolved. This is indicated by the cuts between brutal violence and scenes of remorseful, unguided staring in to the distance.

This idea is also represented through colour, the tint used within this sequence is a mixture between red and pink, it's hard to properly perceive the correct colour. The confusion over the dominating colour could be representative of the protagonist's emotions, whereby, the red represents the violence he feels is needed to eliminate the other emotion, which is love for his dying boyfriend (highly resembled by plants). Furthermore, Isaiah Seret develops generic conventions of the noir genre within "Cool Song No.2" through lighting, this is as he has progressed traditional ideas of chiaroscuro lighting through the use of intensive colour lighting within the music video, whilst abiding by a classic noir set-up.

In terms of intertextuality, the red tint used within the above sequence as a connotation of violence
seems to bear reference to Tarantino's "Kill Bill"; whereby, when faced with the destroyers of her past Beatrix Kiddo see's flashbacks overlaid by red to symbolize her anger and ultimately need for revenge. Additionally, the link to "Leon" begins to further strengthen within this scene; we see that after all the violence, the protagonist is at one with the plants in front of him, staring and being gentle with them. This is much like "Leon" in the way that he is an assassin, but finds peace and loving for the only object he cares about, his plant.

                    

The next sequence illustrates a rather interesting conflict, although it is more to do with narrative than genre theory it may be suitable to touch upon. In music videos such as Chis Cunningham's "Afrika Shox", binary opposition is created between ethnic groups (in particular African-Carribean and Caucasian), where the white seems to always have power over black. However, Seret's "Cool Song No.2" illustrates the African-Carribean man with the power during conflict; shot reverse shot is used to create binary opposition between these characters, note the protagonist is shot at a low angle to connote power as opposed to the white male who is shot at a level angle. This reinforces Claude Levis-Strauss' ideas that constant conflict is the drive behind narrative, relying on binary opposition.

In contrast, the white character is depicted within a gold fenced house, showing prison like connotations; however, it appears that this "prison" is more for keeping people out than in, this is as gold represents power and so the house the white man is shown in could be perceived as his kingdom. It's as if he has left the black protagonist out in the barren and desolate land to fend for himself, whilst he smugly believes that the character won't be able to reach him there, but although the white man believes he is the most powerful within the situation, the protagonist shows his power by breaking through the bars and killing him. This could connote that in the world created by Seret within "Cool Song No. 2" stereotypical connotations of the rich white man still apply, but the African-Carribean character defies this ignorance and breaks through the boundaries formed in a white man's world.

Conventions of the psychedelic genre are again utilised through mise-en-scene, this is through contrasting colourful lights. The use of blue and pink tints within the lighting of this sequence mimic the effects of hallucinogenic drugs; psychedelic music aims to evoke the same euphoria. Therefore, both the track and music video are abiding by the conventions created within the formation of the psychedelic genre, which is, to recreate the same visual and auditory "trip" as one would experience on drugs such as acid or LSD. In this way, the music video links to Gunter Kress' ideas that genre is a kind of text that derives it's form from the structure of a (frequently repeated) social occasion, with its characteristic participants and their purposes. This is as all aspects of music video and track are about re-creating effects of hallucinogenic drugs naturally, referencing why and how the genre began. Moreover, other music videos such as Tame Impala's "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" utilise these conventions in a similar, if not progressing it by re-creating this "trip" in an animated form.

Additionally, the lighting within this sequence also references the noir genre; this is as it is low-key and is also reflected in the water much like in classic noir films, such as "Once Upon A Time in America", whereby, light is reflected from the wet bodies in the street. Furthermore, this also allows us to draw links between the two texts and asses meaning; the reflection of light on the body's in "Once Upon A Time in America"show how noir lighting is a clear connotation of crime and violence, these same ideas apply to "Cool Song No. 2", where the utilisation of noir lighting is used just as we enter a workshop for production of illegal drugs, and perhaps also references the violent nature of the protagonist.

In terms of meaning, there is a team of people producing drugs, surrounded by plants, all on the other side of a heart-shaped prison; there is clear symbolism that this represents a heart, due to the shape and the pink tinted lighting (indicating love). Moreover, this suggests that what is included within this gated heart is all that the protagonist cares about, his drugs and plants (the plants being symbolic of his boyfriend, due to the disease he poses). In addition, the idea of this sequence being representative of everything the protagonist loves is further amplified by the lyrics at this point, "something else to soften a sadistic urge", inferring that these components are the only things that keep him from being truly cruel.

Isaah Seret goes on to challenge and in some ways develop generic conventions of noir within "Cool Song No. 2" through new representation of the femme fatale character; the stereotypical femme fatale is an attractive, charming woman who leads men in to deadly or dangerous situations. For example, the character of Kathie Moffat in "Out of the Past. However, within "Cool Song No. 2" the classic femme fatale seems to be defied through the use of a male character as opposed to female, he seems to bear similar characteristics to the femme fatale archetype. For example, he has gained the love of the protagonist, but through taking drugs similar to the ones the protagonist has became mutated and diseased as a side effect. Through the love the main character has for him, we see he has developed a similar sign of the disease on his wrist.

Kathie Moffat, portrayed by Jane Greer
- "Out of the Past" 

Therefore, showing how the attraction of this male femme fatale has led the protagonist to become endangered and diseased, ultimately paying homage to this type of character and the narrative that follows within the noir genre. Additionally, the lyrics further amplify this connection; "Tell me how far you'd go (Go where you like), Knowing your air won't hold (Last one to know)" - these are sung by the male femme fatale and seem to be rather antagonistic towards the protagonist, as if he wants the protagonist to join him by developing the plant mutation. Moreover, this interesting twist on the classic femme fatale character is a great indication of how Seret has initially challenged the noir genre, but essentially developed classic archetypes to suit a male persona. Again, Gunter Kress' ideas can be linked to this as the music video not only fits in to the noir genre, but also portrays it's characteristics and purposes i.e. the femme fatale and her personal attributes.

Still from "Drive".

Furthermore, Seret again uses aspects of the noir genre in order to connote ideas of mystery; this is utilised through the use of bright car headlights at night. Car headlights are a common characteristic of the noir and subsequently thriller genre, they're use is to blind either character or audience to give a sense of enigma and build suspense. For example, in noir films such as "Kiss Me Deadly" or neo-noir "Drive". Here, Seret has used these connotations to give a deeper meaning of mystery to the protagonist, it's as if throughout the narrative of the music video the audience learn about his affection for his lover, but not an amazing amount of the criminal background of him. Therefore, the headlights could be highlighting this mysterious persona. In addition, the portrayal of headlights on a wet, deserted road are a characteristic of film noir; the connection between drugs and crime is therefore implied in this specific imagery, relating to the narrative revolving around making drugs.


In conclusion, "Cool Song No .2" seems to use generic conventions of the psychedelic genre as a means of pleasing a loyal fan base, by trying to evoke the same feelings as the track its self through mise-en-scene Seret ties a solid link between music video, track and the roots of the genre. Additionally, noir characteristics are used to give the narrative more contextual connotations better establishing it's genre as a sort of neo-noir short film, moreover, linking "Cool Song No. 2" to Katie Wales ideas about genre as an intertextual concept, as it is easier to better understand which genre this video cements itself in through the generic conventions it uses.