Brooklyn’s experimental pop duo Tanlines released their sophomore record, Highlights, this past May. With it came a brilliant marketing strategy, complete with a faux-Netflix redesign of their website. In addition to offering the band’s oeuvre of crisp pop tracks and witty music videos, it boasts Tanlines-recommended movie playlists, such as one that features movies about the places they’ll hit on the Highlights tour. This isn’t to say that the album doesn’t carry itself – it’s great from beginning to end – but the schtick serves as the cherry on top.
Their latest star-studded video, directed by Alex Karpovsky (of Girls) and Teddy Blanks, keeps in line with this long-running joke. It’s a veritable feast of familiar faces and Brooklyn inside jokes surrounding a base plot of a troubled relationship, which is handled both humorously but emotionally aptly at the same time. Karpovsky stars in it alongside Natasha Lyonne of Orange Is The New Black; it also features cameos from Ben Sinclair of New York-based web series High Maintainence and Leo Fitzpatrick of cult classic Kids. The references don’t stop merely with the stars–keep your eyes peeled for Lena Dunham’s book and a bottle of Chateau Diana wine (hello Duane Reade), all set around the backdrop of Baby’s All Right. Even as it made us laugh at its own sardonic self-awareness, we found it oddly moving at the same time in the way it perfectly captures the spirit of Brooklyn. Definitely don’t miss this one.