Laura Kerry
No matter how fuzzy and high-energy, three-piece bands often make music whose constituent parts each stand out. In the case of Bellingham, Washington natives The Shows, the trio is comprised of one drummer, one guitarist who sings, and a dedicated vocalist. In their full-length debut from last year, Signifier, each of these parts plays a big role. The small shifts in each can change the whole dynamic.
In the music video for “Limerence,” the second single from that album, the visual details play a similarly weighty role. The video uses only two settings—a stage emerging from a dark room with a colorful geometric backdrop and, at the end, a garage—with the trio playing their song all the way through. Relying only on the performers, camera movements, and cuts, it calls attention to the sound. Everything absorbs the moody, off-kilter tone of the track and takes on added significance as a result. The way the drummer bobs stoically; the movements of the guitarist’s eyes; the accentuated shapes of the singer’s mouth; the close-up shots as the singer belts, “Come close to me / Far from everything”—each element feels important in its own right, awash in a slightly sinister energy. In "Limerence," as is the case for the band itself, a little goes a long way.