"it should be said" : PopMatters - Kool Stuff Katie

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

PopMatters - Kool Stuff Katie - "Cars" (Premiere)

The beautiful and hip environs of Portland, Oregon, a catchy tune, and a duo with real chemistry... Kool Stuff Katie's "Cars" has it all.

And who says Craiglist has to be completely sketchy? It certainly wasn’t in the case of the Portland, Oregon garage rock/pop duo Kool Stuff Katie, helmed by Shane Blem and Saren Oliver. The two met over the website, and have since then forged a creative union that’s as playful and quirky as the city in which they live. With a few curveballs added, the music video to the track “Cars”, taken from the duo’s self-titled debut, could be a Portlandia sketch in the waits. But, alas, the video chooses (wisely) to focus on the rapport between Blem and Oliver—and their pretty sweet ride, too.

This video finds the pair attempting to escape the crowded, frustrating noise of the city in order to find a serene setting away from it all. Fitting for “Cars”, the majority of the video’s attention is on what they are driving: a ’66 Lotus Cortina, which should have fans of vintage autos salivating in jealousy.

The duo tells PopMatters this about the video: “Working on this video was a blast. How often do you get to cruise around in a Cortina for three days and call it work? We definitely got a lot of stares, honks, and people who stopped to ask us about our ride. At one point, we stopped traffic on the St. John’s Bridge in Portland with a ‘breakdown’ in order to clear cars out and get the shot of us going over. Bryson, one of the directors, hung out of the back of a van while driving through tunnels, and we all braved freezing cold wind at points—everyone working on this video was dedicated to do whatever it took to get the shot, which left us with some pretty funny stories. Overall, it was an awesome experience.”