Kevin Bronson on November 10th, 2011

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Living Things have never lacked for strong messages in their music, whether it’s their early, unhinged glam-rock or recent forays into Afrobeat and noirish psychedelia. Even so, the Berlin brothers’ video for “Har Megiddo” (Hebrew for armageddon and the title track of their new EP) is a jaw-dropper. Basic storyline: Man likes his machine. Man really really likes his machine. Even this censored version of the video might offend some sensibilities (the uncensored version is NSFW), but that’s the point, Lillian Berlin says. “I have been lyrically inspired over that last year by futurist Ray Kurzweil and the philosophy of the ‘Singularity,’ which deals with the idea of machine taking over man,” the singer and songwriter says. “The question I ask is, why are we choosing to rely on machines rather than pushing our own physical, intellectual and spiritual development further?” Certainly, after watching director Floria Sigismondi’s “Har Megiddo,” you won’t be able to view one of those sexy, smarmy luxury car commercials in the same way.

||| Also: Stream/download Living Thing’s free “Malocchio” mixtape on Soundcloud.