An estimated 92% of us experience earworms. Despite the annoying times we can’t get a chorus or a hook of an overplayed pop song out of our heads, getting a really good earworm stuck can be one of the best things, ever. We here at Nerdist are dead set on bringing you those types of songs—even if only for the weekend. So shove this into your grey matter!
Have you ever inadvertently heard the same song multiple times from different sources? It’s a rare occurrence for me, considering most of the random nonsense I tend to listen to, but I love it so much when it happens.  It’s absolutely mind-boggling to think about the odds of the things that had to occur to be within earshot of the media in such unrelated ways. When it does happen, although I know it’s purely coincidental, I feel like the song or artist was trying to find me.
This week’s group, Miike Snow (with a double I, of course), hit me three different ways within a single day. Once, while walking past a bar in a neighborhood I rarely explore, the second time in a musical interlude of a podcast, and the third by turning on the TV midway through a particular scene in the movie Crazy, Stupid, Love. Oddly enough, it was all the same song…
“Animal”
I’m comfortable in the assumption that this track from 2009 might be the most recognizable song by Swedish pop group Miike Snow. A tad confusing with such a singular sounding person’s name, the group consists of Swedish producers Bloodshy & Avant and American singer Andrew Wyatt, who have been consistently putting out earwormy music since the the late 2000s. Their intensely catchy and fairly mellow electronic music accompanied by fun-to-sing lyrics results in a fair amount of diverse remixes as well. For example, the version by Punks Jump Up heads more into the realm of electronic music, while Mark Ronson’s remix leans into the existing reggae feel of the tune and creates something that feels like it belongs on a compilation out of 1960s Jamaica.
“Black and Blue”
This substantially dance-ier (totally a word) track much more indicative of the Miike Snow’s normal musical fare. Other than being a song deserving earworm status, the video for “Black and Blue” is incredibly intriguing with its visual narrative. It tells the story of some sort of recluse audio engineer doing his best to perfect a song. Having apparently succeeded by the end of the video, he marches out into the world toward the ecstatic in having accomplished what he set out to do. And speaking of intriguing videos…
“Genghis Khan”
Let’s talk about this video first because it… is… a… delight. In what might be the most realistic spy/villain relationship to date it depicts the two archetype’s mutual respect for each other for what it really is: love. It seems super-villainy is a rather mundane nine-to-five daily grind until the gold-nosed baddie follows his heart, releases the spy, and ultimately ends up in a relationship with him. Everything about this song and video make me smile ear to ear despite the message of the lyrics being a bit, let’s say, worrisome. Somehow, even with the lyrical comparisons of a ruthless warlord to relationship jealously, it still manages to be incredibly upbeat.
I can’t pretend to have been a huge Miike Snow fan, but after the coincidence of “Animal” finding me three times, I feel I need to absorb everything. Let’s discuss where I should start in the comments below!
Image: Miike Snow
Blake Rodgers writes for Nerdist from Chicago, IL where he lives happily with his Guinness World Record for High Fives. Be his pal by following him on Twitter (@TheBlakeRodgers)
