One would think that, fresh off a six-year, $26 million contract extension with the St. Louis Cardinals,1 former Book2 Paul de Jong would have found the relative pocket change to inject some production values into his latest solo video. But “It’s Only About Sex,” born into this cruel world just weeks ago, is just a bunch of old, slowed-down footage of people doing weird and uncomfortable things, at least in the context of the music and the presentation. Grainy, (I’m guessing) early 1990s VHS footage of some nauseating interpretive dancing, and then halfway through grainy, (I’m guessing) early 1990s camcorder footage of unflattering “club” moves is juxtaposed with de Jong’s slow jam ambience — and the mood for love is quickly jettisoned.
I mean, you press play with the idea of capital-S “Sex” in your mind, and then these images… Oh these images. I’m not sure if I want to trumpet de Jong’s archivist mindset as genius or throw up in my mouth. Maybe I’ll do both. It’s not like de Jong hasn’t cultivated a style over the years, and with a librarian’s ear and eye he adds to his repertoire and legend with “It’s Only About Sex,” teasing out every ounce of pathetic humor he possibly can while veering just far enough into cynicism to not be off-putting. I mean, we (and I’m talking all of us) are guilty of doing it: looking at YouTube videos all day to make fun of others behaving poorly, or behaving just so normally that the actions take on a surreal bizarreness. Turns out that Paul de Jong is just super good at shining a light into the corners where some choice content hides.
You Fucken Sucker is de Jong’s latest album (LP, CD, digital) on Temporary Residence, and you can own it yourself on April 6! Check the tracklist below, then also stream three tracks at the Bandcamp page like good little consumers and/or (yuck) Redbird fans.
1. I mean, c’mon — that just writes itself. And some disclosure for all you idiots out there: yes, that is a different Paul DeJong — note the capital “D” and lack of character space between “De” and “Jong” if you’re having trouble telling them apart.
2. That sounds weirder than I intended, like he was a literal book at some point.
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