Norwegian Arms Release New Video for ‘soviet Bicycle’ [premiere]

Clocking in at just 2:19, “Soviet Bicycle” is a song without a wasted motion. The track and its accompanying video take you through multiple places before leaving you right back where you started — assuming that where you started was a perplexed state of silence, not knowing what to expect. The visuals are even more disorienting than the song, featuring black silhouettes and animal cutouts plastered onto Chinese landscapes that are speeding by. Watch as two camels race by a train for a true W T F experience.

At first, I pegged Norwegian Arms as one very similar to Animal Collective – they employ tribal percussion, the indecipherable, garbled vocals of Feels, even the group shouting. Halfway through “Soviet Bicycle,” though, is a bass line that Animal Collective have spent a career shying from, which brings a touch of humanity to a song and video that otherwise feels taken from an undiscovered planet.

“Soviet Bicycle” is a song perfectly in sync, as the lyrics urge you to move your limbs “lest the muscles shamble,” and the song is bound to make you feel anything but stable and still. To experience that aforementioned intergalactic place, you can also visit Norwegian Arms’ live shows:

2/7 @ Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia w/ Snowmine
2/8 @ Knitting Factory, Brooklyn w/ Mutual Benefit