The Avalanches – Subways
2016 · Directed by Mrzyk & Moriceau
47K Likes
Best comments
1.“That station's on the corner of Lysergic Avenue and Sesame Street!”
More comments
- 2.“This reminds me of that time I accidentally took the subway in NYC while I was on acid.”
- 3.“Yes, Mr. Avalanches, I too have tripped on a train – and it's exactly like the two-minute mark of this documentary.”
The story
The Avalanches build songs out of other people's records, and Subways is a good example. The lead voice belongs to Chandra Oppenheim, who was 12 when her own song called Subways came out in 1980 on a cult no wave EP. She had never heard of the Australian band until they asked to use it. They also borrowed from Warm Ride, a Bee Gees song as sung by Graham Bonnet. The track came out in June 2016 as the third single from Wildflower.
For the video, the band handed French illustration duo Mrzyk & Moriceau a pile of references – Sesame Street, the grit of 1970s downtown New York, The Last Days of Disco, The Warriors – and let them loose. The result is a full 2D cartoon in nine parts, each one following a different rider on a rainbow-colored subway. A poodle clown. Two rats who high-five. An apple-headed man walking a worm. A long-legged dude modeled on Tony Manero from Saturday Night Fever. Swearing cats, bearded nudists, hot dog rollercoasters.
The duo said the idea was to escape reality for somewhere stranger, and that the characters came straight out of their own heads. They drew the storyboards and Mathematic Studio in Paris animated it, with a grainy handmade look meant to feel like '70s kids' TV. It took just over a month. Your morning commute could never.
