HOME VIDEO are two enigmatic and intense young men called David Gross and Collin Ruffino who came to Brooklyn via the swampy voodoolands of New Orelans. They excel in dark, jittery, frayed-nerve (post)pop laced with electronica and have previously released a 10" single ("That You Might") that bigged up their cred factor and won them support slots with NYC critical faves Radio 4.
"Citizen" is their first widely-available EP and it's something of an understated gem. It opens with the title track, which features analogous beats, sawn-off and tetchy guitars and quietly morphs into a set-piece wracked with tension. The lyrics have Orwellian overtones ("The world is a dream as seen on TV/ I'm only scared when they tell me to be") and are delivered in a distinctly claustrophobic, Thom Yorke-ish timbre by (I think) Ruffino.
It's an excellent start, and ably supported by its' compatriots. "We" beguiles with a smiliarly serene unease. The chorus ("We will shelter you, there will be no more ridicule/ we will love you always") reads as sincere and reassuring, but there's a tangible tinge of underlying menace that's enough to give you the chills: something you could also say about "In A Submarine." Again, Radiohead spring favourably to mind as Home Video evoke the spirit of the doomed Russian sub 'Kursk'. Its' dignified, but utterly helpless chorus ("Keep quiet, it will come/ I can hear the rattle of the hull") is one of the most moving things you will hear all year.
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"Blimp Mason" is the one minor disappointment. Not that its' stillness ( somewhere between early Aphex and Mark Hollis) is anything less than captivating, but it sets up a Major Tom-style storyboard ("I am in outer space/ in orbit far away") and then drifts tantalisingly out of your grasp at an all-too-brief two minutes. No such problems with "The Tundra", which is a bit of a departure with its' hectoring, growling basslines and muttered threats. Live with it for a while, and its' debt to New Order becomes scarily apparent, but it's still filmic and intriguing for all that.
The enigmatic Home Video, then, are two paranoid, but articulate androids who take mystery to bed and caress it lovingly. Keep them in mind as it's unlikely they will remain in the B-movie backwaters for long.
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