Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers are an on-the-rise indie band from New York, with a “deranged” second album in stores Tuesday, Teenage and Torture. Check out their campy and effective version of a pre-CGI slasher film in their new video for “Heaven in Stereo” below!
The song’s ragged guitar licks recall early R.E.M., while Ray’s unbridled, aggressive howl possesses a Kathleen-Hanna-in-Bikini-Kill grit. It’s a combo whose “’80s vibe” and “tactile imagery,” to use Ray’s own words, provides a fitting soundtrack to the video, where a couple’s woodsy makeout sesh gets rudely interrupted. An angry wolfman stalks the lovers, then offs the boyfriend in a cartoonish scene worthy of Sam Raimi’s low budget cult classic, Evil Dead. But revenge is ultimately served with the elegance of a double-barreled shotgun.
“[It’s] vintage slasher 80’s film!” Ray gushes to SPIN. “What’s not to love? Sure the song sounds dark and heavy but it has a sense of humor. I’m pleased that the video portrays that.”
Ray also loved that director Will Joines conceived the video’s horror-style action in a way that didn’t require the band to act. “We could just play, ’cause that’s what we do best,” she says.
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Watch the video below, and check out the Ray’s raucous live show — which she recently honed as the opening act (without the Hookers) for Nick Cave’s Grinderman — when her band’s nationwide tour commences in March (click here for dates). A record release bash is set for Jan. 21 at Brooklyn Bowl.