In their latest visual offering, Joff and the Cults continue to play unfettered in their artistic sandbox with “Shake” – a gritty, visceral journey that marries the raw energy of their sound with equally unvarnished visuals.
The video opens on the song’s title in big, stark white lettering against a black void, immediately establishing the minimalist yet dynamic aesthetic that characterises the entire piece. What follows is a series of shakey painted portraits that seem to emerge from and dissolve into darkness, each frame pulsing with the same nervous energy that drives the track’s prominent bassline.
Unlike their previous offerings “Needle” and “Holding Your Hand”, which played with Instagram formats and cutout animation respectively, “Shake” strips away all pretence to reveal something more primal.
The video’s visual palette is dominated by harsh contrasts – ghostly whites and deep blacks punctuated by bursts of burnt oranges and searing reds. These painted figures appear to be caught in a perpetual state of dissolution, their features simultaneously forming and deteriorating in perfect synchronicity with the track’s gritty frequency.
Joff’s artistic vision here is particularly noteworthy, as he explains that the video’s aesthetic was born directly from the track’s sonic DNA. “The song is largely driven by the bass, and the bass has got this gritty frequency,” he notes. The jittery, top-heavy framing he opted for serves the material perfectly, creating a sense of perpetual unease that mirrors the track’s restless rhythm.
With “Shake”, Joff and the Cults have created something that feels less like a music video and more like a visual manifestation of sound itself. It’s a bold step forward for a band that continues to evolve their visual language while staying true to their roots-inspired, garage rock foundations.
