OK I’m not gonna lie, I thought Jenny Haniver was the front person of the band. A quick search for some biographical information and a couple rabbit holes later I found out that a Jenny Haniver is actually a carcass modified by hand then mummified to resemble a mythological or cryptozoological creature. These small doll sized figures were popular in olden times often sold and traded amongst sailors and collectors. They are… um… disturbing. I’ll let you take a gander on your own if you dare.
Jenny Haniver the band is a Portland based post-rock duo with a penchant for the experimental and eclectic. Composed of Eric Nyffeler on bass/synths and Randall Taylor on guitar/synths. Eric and Randall are both well versed in the worlds of drone and ambient music. The two have worked on numerous projects over the years together and separately. They brought all this experience, a wide range of influences, and their love for post-punk, art rock, electronic music, and post-hardcore with them when they united as Jenny Haniver.
So it’s no surprise that they ended up putting something really special together for their debut album. Haunt Your Own House out last year is a wild blend of heavy goth tinged instrumental explorations. Recalling 65daysofstatic by way of Nine Inch Nails or maybe Mogwai if they were really obsessed with The Cure. Haunt Your Own House moves fluidly through auditory landscapes and liminal spaces in a way that is both confident and uncanny. Musical haunted house is about right for the overall theme of the album.
Jenny Haniver is back today to premiere a music video treatment for the song “Sunk Costs” off Haunt Your Own House. “Sunk Costs”, the second track off the album, is a beefy guitar driven monster with just a touch of synth layered beneath crushing drums. The music video opens with a very Lynchian black and white distortion. This is maintained for maybe the first third or so of the video until this psychedelic swirl of vibrant neon invades the screen, with a dip back into the black and white surrealism before a return to the acid trip color vortex. These images fit Jenny Haniver‘s heavy cinematic style of post-everything perfectly and make for an absorbing viewing experience.
‘”Sunk Costs” exists somewhere in the late night fog between scrambled basic cable, vh1 reruns, and sensationalized true crime shows. By combining found footage, medical dramatizations, and live performances, director Caleb Coppock explores the mind and body through heavily processed video and shows us all the messy ways it distorts and fails us.’
I hope you enjoyed this visual accoutrement to Jenny Haniver’s sonic pummeling. Be sure to check out the full album Haunt Your Own House out now on Landland Colportage Records and give Jenny Haniver a follow on Instagram and Bandcamp.
