Flour Flour premieres a new music video today, called “High School Video Game.” The song blithely imagines a video game that permits adults to roleplay the high school version of themselves.
Hailing from Berkeley, California, Flour Flour is made up of Brian Baughn and Philip Wright. The duo retains a genuine confidence about both the past and the future, striving for optimism and nostalgia devoid of glamorization. Their target is the memories everyone has of growing up and becoming independent in a world teeming with technology. “It’s funny, “says Baughn, “how the technology you grew up with becomes a hallmark of that time in your life.”
“High School Video Game” starts off with a blipping synth and smooth mellow vocals joined by a delicately shimmering synth and a mellifluous guitar. The melody glows with a dreamy alt pop flavor. The rhythmic elements, bass and drums, provide light pulsing energy as the silky vocals flow gracefully above. There’s a delightful pensive feel to the resonantly glowing vocals that’s wistful without becoming brooding. I love the glossy sheen of the guitar and the complementing accents of the quivering, sparkling synths. A marvelous flute solo imbues the tune with warm hues and a reflective mood.
The lyrics to “High School Video Game” appear on screen in message lozenges, as instructions from the game as it’s played.
“Let the map be drawn by the wandering / Of a bug that slipped and stepped in ink / Take on the colors of your bedroom walls / Doesn’t have to matter so much to you and your mom / Scroll down to skater shoes / Tracing all your footsteps / Trade for two combat boots / Patrolling and subtracting from their ranks / Maybe it turns out that life has been fantastic / In the sunlight that comes from inside the glasses / Put them on and you’re in vinyl seats again / Cruelly making law in glitter pen.”
The video depicts Virtual Reality with the game in action, as lozenges pop up with gaming advice, along with flowing images of a road leading to high school, the center of life during most people’s formative teen years. The demarcated figure of a human being spins slowly while another image of a human brain rotates, presenting angular views of synaptic pathways.
“High School Video Game” is an outstanding song, rife with an elegant sinuous melody and contagious rhythm, along with cashmere-like vocals and harmonies. The feel of the tune is colored with the plush musings of a previous phase of life oozing into your mind, stirring up fond memories. Put simply, it’s an excellent song and Flour Flour has it going on.