The Shins: The Rifle’s Spiral

Three sinister gentlemen, a magician and an enormous rabbit populate the fantastical landscape of Emmy-winning director Jamie Caliri’s video for “The Rifle’s Spiral,” a new track by Portland-based indie rock heavyweights The Shins. Sketching the short’s narrative from any lyrics that grabbed his attention, Caliri had free rein to let his imagination run wild, resulting in a surreal stop-motion animation. “I have always loved Edward Gorey’s illustration work and his influence is apparent throughout the video,” says Caliri. “Also, seeing Martin Scorsese’s Hugo three times subconsciously veered my thoughts onto the magic theme.” Founded in 1996 by singer-songwriter James Mercer, The Shins played Coachella Festival last weekend as part of a US tour in support of their grandiose fourth album, Port of Morrow. Featuring guest appearances from Modest Mouse drummer Joe Plummer and Wild Flag’s Janet Weiss, Port of Morrow took five years in the making after Mercer put the group on hiatus to become a father. Enthusing about the current renaissance in music videos after also making a 3D version of the film exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS, Caliri observes: “It's now more like the years before MTV, when music videos did not have a formula. You can be expressive and idiosyncratic.”