Published on June 8th, 2011 | Jonny Abrams
SINGLE O’WEEK: UNKLE feat. Nick Cave – ‘Money And Run’
Having in the past featured guest vocals from such luminaries as Ian Brown, Thom Yorke and Josh Homme, James Lavelle’s UNKLE have burst back onto whichever scene you deem to be particular to them with this rip-roaring, Nick Cave-warbled helicopter raid of a track.
Much like the tune itself, which can be found on UNKLE’s Only The Lonely EP, the Tom Haines-directed video (above) is a right old barney an’ no mistake. In his own words…
“Taking Nick Cave’s mantra of ‘I took the money’ that recurs throughout the song, the video utilizes (Rocksucker says: points deducted for using the word ‘utilize’) his self aggrandising, first person sermon and uses it as the narrative start point.
“Coupled with UNKLE’s layered, psychedelic treatment of the track we present a re-imagining of a weekend romp where a group of Toffs act-up, cause havoc and generally have their way, unimpeded by the rule of law. The idea was to present a world that is once removed from reality, a sort of exaggerated reality in the vein of JG Ballard, Will Self or even more pertinently Anthony Burgess. In fact one reference for the video was the Droogs from Clockwork Orange, in that it’s a gang who are essentially amoral sociopaths, ready to fight or fuck whoever they see fit.
“It is not intended as a direct broadside to any particular politician, though borrows from the iconography and styling of the Bullingdon set who reign supreme. I suppose it’s a crude allegory, but in that sense it allows us to have a lot of fun with the scenarios and settings. The kind of fun that makes you feel uneasy in hindsight.”
As for the song, there’s not really much else we can add other than a bunch of onomatopoeic Batman watchwords. That, and a slew of synonyms for ‘big’, ‘powerful’ and ‘menacing’. Thusly, one may conclude that, if ‘Money And Run’ were a cheese-animal hybrid, it would be a vast slab of stilton with the mouth of an alligator. A frightening thought.
In August, UNKLE will headline the Dance Stage at the Reading and Leeds Festivals under the name ‘UNKLE Sounds’, performing a world-exclusive audio-visual DJ set featuring songs from their back catalogue alongside remixes of other artists’ tracks. From what we can tell from the Reading line-up, they’ll be clashing with My Chemical Romance and Beady Eye. Rocksucker would strongly advise that you opt for UNKLE Sounds. Just saying.
Rocksucker says: Four Quails out of Five!
About the Author
Jonny Abrams Editor of Rocksucker and the website's founder, Jonny is passionate about the music he listens to, both good and bad, as well as interviewing his favourite musicians.
