In our continuing coverage of San Diego's Barbarian, check out the bizarre occurrences of the occult in the video for "Red Tide". Game board pieces and procedures from an old school game of Operation get loosely interpreted from director June Zandona as a cult of the 'wish bone' that preys on customers as new recruits and victims for kicks. The cocktail lounge takes on a red light bathed, creepy Dusk til Dawn vibe as the Operation playing pieces become enchanted charms with hallucinogenic properties.
An innocent backroom game of Operation turns into a ghoulish affair of human sacrifice with derelicts gathered like sinister witches in a clandestine coven. This is where frontman Andrew Mills chorus line of, "I still got my soul, you can have my skin and bones", takes on a visual tongue in cheek meaning as if Mills and the gang were casting lots over a Hasbro game. As the action gets amped up, the board pieces of 'butterflies in the stomach' and 'wish bone' are consumed by all in the gathering like an unholy psychotropic communion. As we follow our bar hopping heroine, the euphoria of spinning disco lights, b-movie image montages and video arcade stimulation turn the night's pale tide into a crimson, ruby red.
Barbarian's City of Women EP is available now from Manimal Vinyl.
