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Watch Alpha Consumer’s Devo-licious ‘The Eat’ Video

Alpha Consumer

Minneapolis band Alpha Consumer’s “The Eat” is a nervy, sardonic ode to consumption that brings to mind the ’50s Disney cartoon starring Goofy, “Tomorrow We Diet!” Naturally, then, it also recalls influential, capitalism-savvy new-wave acts such as Devo and the B-52s. The song’s video is directed by music-video trailblazer Chuck Statler, who directed short films for Madness, Elvis Costello, and, yup, Devo before MTV existed. Interspersing performance footage with clips of black-covered dancers, a suicidal clown, and, of course, plenty of food-related imagery, the video deftly captures that, ahem, gut feeling. Note well: Alpha Consumer’s Jeremy Ylvisaker, a vet of Andrew Bird’s band, also plays alongside Dosh in another MPLS quasi-supergroup, the mighty Cloak Ox, and bassist Mike Lewis is a member of Bon Iver. “The Eat” is the first song from Alpha Consumer’s upcoming fourth album, Meat, set for release this fall.