Gorillaz - Stylo - Chevrolet Muscle Cars
Sunday, March 7th 2010
Just this last week, Gorillaz released a new music video featuring some cool muscle cars. Not to mention a surprising special guest. The new video is to help promote their upcoming album, Plastic Beach. For those who are not familiar with Gorillaz, let me give you a short introduction. Gorillaz are a virtual band created after comic book series Tank Girl. It's members are Russel, 2D, Murdoc and Noddle. The actual musical performers vary from song to song. It's a very interesting concept to say the least. But enough about the band. Let's talk about the video.
Each Gorillaz video tells a part in a never ending story. I'm not currently up to date with what's going on in the story, other than the fact their escaping to an island. But this video starts out with the gang racing through the desert in a 1969 Camaro SS. They're being chased down by a cop in hot pursuit. Noodle-bot manages to shoot at the cop till the cop runs off the road and crashes through a billboard (very Dukes of Hazzard like). Things are fine for the moment, till they pass Bruce Wills in a 1968 El Camino. Bruce Willis starts chasing down the group and tries to gun them down. He successfully shoots out the back window and driver side mirror. The chase goes on as Bruce's El Camino pushes Murdoc harder. Some nitrous effects are used and they escape only for Bruce Willis to catch up again later. The chase ends with the crew running off a cliff into the water, where the car turns into a shark. Let's talk about the cars!
The Cars
The Camaro is badged on the tail panel as an 1969 Camaro SS, painted black with a white vinyl top. The front emblem was replaced with a "Stylo" emblem. There's a star on the door with the bullet holes and rub marks, very rough looking. It's got the factory rally wheels with center caps. If it's a true Camaro SS, it should have either 396 V8 or a 350 V8 engine under the hood. It's debatable if the blower scoop is functional or if it's just there for looks. The scoop is sitting on top of a cowl induction hood. It looks kinda out of place. One last note, the Camaro front-fender scripts appear and disappear throughout the video. Do you think two cars were used?
The El Camino is a 1968 model (non-SS). The paint color resembles candy apple red. The wheels look like American Racing 200S, classic style. I found something a little confusing with the shifter. In one part of the clip, Bruce reaches down to grab floor shifter knob. If you look up at the steering wheel, you can see a column shifter as well. Is the floor shifter a fake or was the column shifter just left for nostalgia? If you look closely, the column shifter appears to be in the park position. Just a interesting note. Engine size? The car is badged as a 327 small block chevy (note the close up near the end of the video).
Final ThoughtsTwo words. Mind Blowing. There is a lot of stuff going on here. I thought it was a great video. The video has a Mad Max kind of theme going on. The new album will be released soon, you can pre-order through our store! The cars are awesome. It's not that often that you see classic muscle cars in music videos anymore. Not exactly sure what the song is talking about. I've read different explanations on the web. Some say love, some say death and some say it's about the car. I think we're all left to interpret the meaning for ourselves. Question, is it just me, or do you guys think the video producers like classic Chevrolet cars? Would a Mako Corvette be a closer match for imagery of the car turning into a shark? Comment your thoughts as we work on our next post. On Screen Car will keep ya posted on On Screen Car happenings. See ya next time!
Categories: 1968 Chevrolet El Camino, 1969 Chevrolet Camaro, Music Video