MUSIC VIDEO: HEARTSREVOLUTION

What happens when you mix Joy Division with social consciousness.

by rebecca willa davis

HeartsRevolution have never shied away from speaking their mind. But when they introduce the music video for their new track, "Pop Heart," with clips of Honey Boo Boo, the Kardashians, and Courtney Stodden, we knew this one was going to be a doozy--in the best way possible. "As technology advances it appears we are morally and mentally declining as a nation. Reality TV, pop stars, buzz bands—You are always being sold another product from 'The Machine,'" explains Ben Pollock, who along with Lo Safai makes up the mixtape-happy duo. He adds, "We've noticed it even more with the explosion of social media platforms; people are more interested in watching a select few live their lives than actually following their hearts, dreams, and desires." You can't say the same for the New York-based band, who drive around in an ice cream truck, hang teddy bears from nooses as a form of street art, and have a new mixtape dropping next week (and a new EP this summer). For the song, which samples Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" ("[It's] one of Lo's favorite songs," notes Pollock), the band used A Beautiful Mind, the scene in Willy Wonka the Chocolate Factory where Mike Teevee gets trapped inside a television set, and the artwork of the late Mike Kelley--the video is dedicated to him. And like many things with HeartsRevolution, it was a very high-low affair: Though they shot the video on a green screen in the span of an hour, it then took months to build the backgrounds. "Unlike most green screen videos, all of the backgrounds are created from real elements--we used Swarovski crystals, 3-D origami balls, and stuffed animals from our Street He(Art) project," Pollock says. "It would have been 1000 times easier to drop us into outer space or something like that, but we had a really specific idea of what we wanted it to look like." We've got the exclusive premiere of "Pop Heart," just make sure you tune in at the right time. As Safai puts it, watch the video when you're "trolling the internet looking for a breath of fresh air." REBECCA WILLA DAVIS Visit heartsrevolution.com for more info.