In the wake of his recent triple play at the Grammys, and in the midst of the sudden blog-frenzy surrounding his personal life, Skrillex has, in a symbolic eyebrow-raise, reminded us why he’s here with us by dropping the video for the title track from his December EP, Bangarang.
In the Tony T. Datis-directed clip, "Bangarang," a reference to the Peter Pan redux film Hook (it’s the battle cry of Rufio, who takes over as leader of the lost boys after Peter decides to leave Neverland and grow up) manifests literally, with a modern twist: The lost boys have become hoodlum street kids with a keen penchant for explosive weaponry, as they mug the ice cream truck of a gluttonous, mustachio’ed driver who doesn’t seem to have done anything wrong except eaten a whole lot of his own merchandise. Unlike the original lost boys, however, these kids do grow up — to pull off high-stakes heists amid gunfire, using the exact same tactics they employed as young’uns, only this time amplified.
Datis’ previous work is riddled with this kind of imagery, often featuring children doing grown-up, often quite dangerous things. notably on another of Skrillex’s clips, for the August 2011-released "First of the Year (Equinox)." We’re guessing some inspiration for "Bangarang," however, might have come from Datis’ work on Modeselektor’s Thom Yorke-assisted song "Shipwreck," which came out two months after "Equinox" and in which a scrappy blond boy (who looks like he belongs in the "Bangarang" video) survives a zombie-tinged apocalypse only to save up enough batteries to electrocute himself.
We won’t ruin the ending of "Bangarang" for you (don’t worry, no kid suicide here), but let’s just say our cover boy Skrilly likes laying on his Pan references thick.
