Video: U.S. Girls, ‘Time’

Zane Roessell on February 26th, 2019

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With the release of their live music video for their single “Time,” U.S. Girls double-down on their claim to being the “No. 1 best live band of 2018.” The sonic dance machine is the brainchild of Philadelphia multi-disciplinary artist Meghan Ramey. What began as a solo act of “instant expression,” recorded spontaneously to a 4-track reel-to-reel, now registers nine members and spans six albums, with 2018’s “In a Poem Unlimited” marking Ramey’s second LP for 4AD.

The video, shot by Alex Kingsmill is a hot take from their sold-out live performance at last year’s Sappy Fest in New Brunswick, Canada. Shot side-stage, we see the band going full Father Yod – bodies wrenching to the furious disco beat, hands to the sky, crowd bobbing in complicity, all under one tent. At one point, guitars howling and saxophones screaming Ramey leaves the stage and walks straight out the back of the tent, barefoot. Almost as if the magic they have conjured affects indiscriminately, taking hold upon the band as well. Turn off the audio and you might wonder when they’ll start talking in tongues and bring out the snakes.

“Time” only offers up on a mere morsel of the prodigious, nearly Pantone-like spectrum of output from the band. But, the shattering 4-on-the-floor, disco-tinged track has a dark aura that compels you to give in. To dance.

||| Watch: The video for “Time”