Vids › The Weirdness, Part 1

Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Swim and Sleep (Like a Shark)

2013 · Directed by Becky & Joe (Becky Sloan & Joe Pelling)

64K Likes

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Best comments

1.“That painting is actually pretty realistic, considering how the horse looks.”

More comments

2.“Tag yourself – I'm the guy painting 'USB STICK' on a wall.”

The story

Becky Sloan and Joe Pelling are the London duo behind Don't Hug Me I'm Scared, the 2011 YouTube puppet musical they dreamed up out of frustration with how art school taught creativity. Working as Becky & Joe, they brought that same cute-but-wrong energy to this one.

The star is a marionette with a problem. Reviewers described him as an alienated, compulsive masturbator, and the clip follows his voyeurism as it traumatizes him – and nothing stops him. Puppet nudity, graffiti, the works, which is why it went out tagged NSFW-ish. Stereogum's take was that he tells his story in a way that feels weirdly heartfelt. That's the Becky & Joe trick: make it cute, make it gross, then sneak a feeling in.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra is Ruban Nielson, formerly of New Zealand's The Mint Chicks, who moved to the States and started UMO as a solo project. Swim and Sleep (Like a Shark) came out in September 2012 as the first single from II, the 2013 Jagjaguwar album he wrote, played and produced himself. II won Best Alternative Album at the New Zealand Music Awards. Lo-fi psychedelic rock from a one-man band, with a puppet doing the confessing.

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