The Prefab Messiahs – Psychsploitation Today: The Video Album

The Prefab Messiahs’ latest record, Psychsploitation Today comes to screaming life through the band’s new corresponding video album. Absurd, sardonic and delightfully trippy, the film is a perfect companion to the Prefab’s psychedelically satirical take on modern society.

As previously discussed here, The Prefab Messiah’s latest studio effort is a catchy fuzzed-up garage rock commentary on life in the era of “alternative facts” and Orwellian social media. Being ripe with addictively ‘60s-esque ear candy and a sharp sense of humor, it’s no surprise that the album lends itself well to over-the-top and hyper visuals.

The film is like a Frankensteinian amalgamation of Head, early Adult Swim shows and Ralph Bakshi’s fever dreams. The majority of the videos utilize insanely vibrant and yet wonderfully crude animation. This style perfectly paints the ugly, ludicrous world of “The Man Who Killed Reality” and the nightmarish slacker haze of “Monster Riff.”

Elsewhere in the film, one would find a beautifully shot, surreal sequence involving an anxious, guitar-toking chicken man (“Sometimes Sunnydaze,”) Death catching some waves during the apocalypse (“Last Day on Earth”) and a hypnotic, Daniel Clowes-like James Bond pastiche (“Outtayerhands.”)

My personal favorite has to be “Gellow Mold.” This video is comprised of drippy, psychedelic liquid light loops layered on top of bizarrely contrasting imagery, like silent movie-era Alice in Wonderlandclips, the Vietnam War and retro Jell-O ads.

If one were to close their eyes while listening to Psychsploitation Today, the mental imagery would likely be shockingly similar to what is present on the video album. Kudos to the Prefab’s Xerox Feinberg, who handled the directing and animating duties, as it takes considerably great skill to create videos that fit their music this perfectly.

If you’re a fan of psych/garage rock, eye-popping animation or if you just want to see what is possibly the only complete underground, indie-rock video concept album in existence for yourself, then you ought to check out this 35 minute, 10-track power-pop feature.

-KH