“Rememoration” is a genre defying video reflective of Daylight Robbery, the post-punk band from Chicago that straddles a variety of lines between musical styles resulting in a timeless rock sound that can actually fill the dance floor. The opening moments of the video for “Rememoration” chronicle a woman suffering from advanced Alzheimer’s Disease, alone with what is presumably her daughter who confesses via phone call her mother no longer recognizes her. There are echoes of a horror film in the unsettling reality of the elderly woman framed in her somber solitude as a roaring white noise that had before been barely audible fills the air.
The woman struggles to her feet for only a moment before collapsing on the ground with a visceral thud that heralds the arrival of Jeff Rice’s taut, propelling drums, David Wolf’s guitars that shine with the edgy luster of a knife blade, and Christine Wolf’s throbbing bass and bombastic, (rock) operatic vocals. Director Phillip Montgomery then pulls the viewer from a moment of crushing sadness to one of triumph, as the elderly woman lifts herself from the ground to show that while she may not remember who others are, she still remembers who she truly is.
And who she is is a dancer.
Decked out in a killer blue, floral track jacket that looks stylish on both her current and younger self, the woman relives her youth through dance. She dances with backup dancers in alleyways surrounded by graffiti-scrawled concrete and she dances on rooftops set against a setting sun that illuminates the sky with lovely purplish, pinkish hues before it succumbs to darkness. She also dances against a spotlight, her younger and older selves within its light for one last monochromatic moment as the song, and video, near their end.
“Rememoration” closes on the woman, still alone and on the floor, as her memories of dancing fade away to reveal the entire video has been a Jacob’s Ladder scenario. It is a jarring moment that brings the viewer back to the real world where one can’t dance forever. But, for the roughly 3 and a half minute “Rememoration”, Daylight Robbery certainly does make us feel like we could.
“Rememoration” is Daylight Robbery’s debut video from their third LP Accumulated Error which is available now on Deranged Records. You can stream it here.
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