In an age when the influence of the music video is on its last breath, Free Energy whips out the defibrillator with the video for latest single “Bang Pop,” off the new Stuck On Nothing (DFA). With an uncanny resemblance to punk-rock legend Iggy Pop, singer Paul Sprangers, joined by fellow band members (donning classic ’70s shags and tight pants), upturns the prison-like structure of the local middle school like a scene out of the Ramones’ classic Rock ’N’ Roll High School. With help from the kids of suburban Philly, school turns into an anything-goes rager, complete with boys smoking pot in the girls’ bathroom, kids throwing tests and papers in the hallway, a dude in a gorilla suit, girls in red lipstick and black leather and angry authorities. Directed by Josh Nussbaum, the video equals if not bests the fun and energy of the song itself.
