Watch L.A.’s Movie Club Traverse a Surreal Scape in ‘Trap Door’ Video

The location of Bombay Beach is a curious one, as well as being totally surreal, as seen in Venice Beach-based rock band Movie Club’s new music video “Trap Door.”

There’s no real connection to the erstwhile Bombay city, but it’s a secluded shore by Salton Sea which used to be a weekend getaway for America’s West Coast residents and is currently seeing some kind of renewed visiting by artists. Movie Club’s drummer Jessamyn Violet says, “The artistic draw is undeniable — the builds and installations that sear themselves into the memory — and that’s the charm that we hoped to capture through our video. Hopefully, though, it doesn’t become too popular, because crowds would kind of destroy the vibe.”

With balloons and matching outfits, Violet and guitarist Vince Cuneo make their way out into the water to a swing set, with their pendulous instrumental music building up curiosity. Cinematographer Dustin Downing suggested Bombay Beach as the location for video to “Trap Door,” which is part of Movie Club’s upcoming record Fangtooth. The track swells to an eerie, psychedelic rock palette, aided by understated flute playing by Venice, L.A.-based multi-instrumentalist David Ralicke, a longtime friend of Violet. “We were also so excited to get the great Tim Lefebvre on bass again — he really adds lines and depth like no other,” Cuneo adds about the EP’s collaborators.

While “Trap Door” might be a tough video to top, Movie Club are well up to the challenge. Violet adds, “We are already plotting another crazy video for ‘Ghost in the Machine’ that will probably be out after the EP drops.” With the U.S. live performance sector opening up, touring nationally and internationally is “a very real goal” for the duo. Violet says, “But while we’re waiting for the right circumstances we’re taking local and state-wide shows for now.”

Watch the video for “Trap Door.” ‘Fangtooth’ EP is out on August 10th.