New Politics have been signed to DCD2 Records which was originally named DecayDance records, founded by Pete Wentz, bassist of Fall Out Boy. The label was relaunched in 2014 when the label changed it's name, keeping acts that were already signed to it. New Politics and Lolo were the first artists to be signed under the new name.
Lyrics
Walking slow down the freeway
Sarah says that it's not much further
Kiss the sunlight on her face
Let's say goodbye to this old and broken
Town where we fell in love
Dead end streets became a drug
Held our voices like a prison cell
But now we shout it from the rooftops
Oh, we are the kids that you never loved
We are the ones that will never grow up
We're just some kids from the west end
Woah, woah, woah
We are the voices you never heard
We are the fire you never let burn
We're just some kids from the west end
Woah, woah, woah
Say goodbye to your old friends
Kicking down all the rusty fences
Don't need much where we're going
Just a little bit of love to get us by
Goodbye, we're on our way
You and I, we got it made
Throw your gold into a wishing well
And we'll be shouting from the rooftops
Oh, we are the kids that you never loved
We are the ones that will never grow up
We're just some kids from the west end
Woah, woah, woah
We are the voices you never heard
We are the fire you never let burn
We're just some kids from the west end
Woah, woah, woah
We are the kids, we are the kids, oh
We are the kids, we are the kids, oh
We are the kids, we are the kids, oh
And we'll be shouting from the rooftops
Oh, we are the kids that you never loved
We are the ones that will never grow up
We're just some kids from the west end
Woah, woah, woah
We are the voices you never heard
We are the fire you never let burn
We're just some kids from the west end
Woah, woah, woah
We are the kids, we are the kids, oh
We are the kids, we are the kids, oh
We are the kids, we are the kids, oh
And we'll be shouting from the rooftops
We are the voices you never heard
We re the fire you never let burn
We're just some kids from the west end
Woah, woah, woah
Lyrics and Visuals
The narrative is very different to the lyrics but there are still links between certain lyrics and the music promo. For example 'And we'll be shouting from the rooftops' with the last part of the video where the band in on a rooftop at the end of the video and they look out over the city below. This could be seen as they have done their shouting from the rooftops, they have defeated everyone within the game and now that it is related they can look out. This could be symbolising how they have created this album in a genre that many record labels do not support and can now let to become successful.
The lyrics 'Oh, we are the kids that you never loved//We are the ones that will never grow up', also link to the visuals as stereotypically it is kids that are playing games but this band are still kids at heart. It could all be alluding to the music industry doesn't support the genre of alternative rock as much as other genres, 'kids that you never loved'.
Music and Visuals
The music and visuals link together more than the lyrics. This may be because the narrative/concept of the music promo came from the synth sounds within the music, giving the track video game like sounds.
Narrative/Performance/Concept
New Politics music promo for 'West End Kids' is a narrative and concept video. The video shows each of the band members playing within different video games and beating off their opponents. The first game with Søren is The Legend of Zelda where he beats the big boss, the next is Louis in Street Fighter where he beats his opponent and the last with David is Grand Theft Auto. Throughout the video there are cameos from artists on the DCD2 label, the Boss was Travie McCoy, Street Fighter was Lolo and the the gang in GTA was Fall Out Boy, with Brendon Urie from Panic! At The Disco as the person playing the games and MAX at the very beginning of the video. This music promo isn't just a promotional video for the song and band but the entire record label as it displays the artists that are already signed to it.
The record label logo is also shown on top of the games consoles, as promotion for the label directly.
Mise en Scene
Location
There are various different locations used in this music promo to show when a different game is being played or a change of scene happens. The Legend of Zelda and Street Fighter location appeared to be a warehouse which had props added to it to create a game like style. The warehouse gives the video an urban feel to it, this is synergistic to the whole 'Vikings' album and its digipak as the panels are very urban and grungy.
Costume and Make Up // PropsCostumes and make up were important features in this music promo as the costumes and make up show the characters to the audience. Each costume used is very different, the Legend of Zelda costume is Link's and this is obvious to anyone who has played the game. The Street Fighter costumes are ones seen in the original game and the GTA scenes are also clear from the costumes, for example the costumes Fall Out Boy where are stereotypical in the game.
Lots of props have been used such as a shield and sword in the Zelda 'game' scene along with cut outs of bushes in a pixel style to give the background depth and also help with showing what game was being played.
Lighting
The lighting has been used to highlight the players.
At the very start of the video, pink, purple and blue lights have been used to represent the game colours reflecting on the faces of the band.
In the nighttime GTA scene the lights have been used to draw focus to the two bands as they appear.
Camera Work and Editing
Editing has been used to create a game like look to the video, they have done this by animating writing over the top of the shots, such as 'Wrecked' in the GTA typeface. The typefaces of video games are unique so by using them the audience can easily see what game is being played. Special effects were added in the post production stage, for example the swords glowed as they were used to highlight them and in the Street Fighter scene to it was used to show big hits by lighting up some of the hits.Focus Group
"The editing work done to make the video seem like an actual video game is really affective and looked amazing" - Jess 17
"I liked how each of the band members was playing in a different game and the cameos from other artists made it really fun to watch as you look out for them" - Jack 17
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