When Saara Untracht-Oakner moved from Boston to New York to start a band with her friend and fellow guitarist Glenn Van Dyke, she was disenchanted by the superficial aesthetics of a Brooklyn summer. That mindset yielded “Shallow Town” — a quick pop-punk ballad off of BOYTOY’s recently released, self-titled EP — and its new music video. The just-unveiled clip distills the band’s ’90s aura, starting with a harmless, Empire Records-esque shot of drummer Matthew Gregory picking up BOYTOY on vinyl. Things then get weird in a hurry.
Dolled up in gnarly sores and a unibrow, Van Dyke snatches the record from Gregory in an alley and ducks into a bar. That’s where Untracht-Oakner, decked out in even grosser makeup and a crown of flowers, menacingly blows lines of cocaine before stealing the vinyl from Van Dyke. She then walks home (while looking like the Yellow King from True Detective), where she finally peels off her grotesque face. Watch the mockery of surface-deep attraction above.
