Indie Song of the Summer Contender: Smith Westerns' "Varsity"
Chicago indie rockers Smith Westerns just dropped the video for "Varsity," the lead single to their third album Soft Will (out 5/25). Not only is it one of the most exuberant, well-crafted tracks they've ever released, but it’s a serious contender for Indie Song of the Summer.
Much like the dreamily ecstatic song itself, the "Varsity" video is full of the guileless joy of young love. The couple in this video do romantic hipster activities like lock lips in a service elevator, do handstands on a roof and blow smoke into each other's mouths.
All this takes place as flowers, grapefruits and other images of summery fertility appear before the camera. Although the lava lamp toward the end makes me wonder if there's a much-darker follow-up video starring this same girl in the works, where she wakes up the next day and realizes she's made a terrible mistake.
Regardless, watch it above and enjoy that sense of first-love nostalgia it brings to mind.
41m
21m
46s
1h 41m
21m
1m
21m
1h 27m
2m
19m
20m
20m
44m
41m
5m
1h 33m
8m
20m
41m
1h 49m
1m
2m
2m
20m
1h 39m
1h 1m
41m
20m
21m
2m
3m
2m
2m
42m
3m
1m
5m
23m
2m
1h 2m
1m
1m
1m
2m
1m
2m
5m
2m
9m
1m
3m
1m
1m
1m
1m
1m
1m
23m
1m
1m
44m
22m
20m
1h 34m
1h 45m
1h 2m
1m
1m
10m
1h 34m
23m
1h 21m
45s
22m
21m
21m
45m
23m
1h 3m
1h 27m
1h 20m
44m
45m
21m
20m
59m
20m
21m
1m
21m
20m
18m
41m