"Turn It Up !" Video – Girls That • '22 Staff Picks
In late May of 2022, Andrew Goes To Hell and WASTEDJU dropped their debut single, “Turn It Up !,” under their new electro-pop duo, Girls That. A catchy track heavy on auto-tune and buzzing synths, this song would’ve sat perfectly in my old iTunes library in between LMFAO and that one Cobra Starship song I had ripped from a questionable P2P site in 2011. Though the single itself is memorable enough for me to fulfill my set word count, it was the song’s accompanying visual that solidified my curiosity for the future of Girls That.
Directed by Baked Jassler, the track’s music video played with 2010s tech aesthetics by pairing HD video with low-res digicam footage and iMovie effects. Normally, I’m skeptical of era revival trends in music, especially during this time of the assumed return of “indie sleaze.” But, despite my reservations for overplayed fads of nostalgia, this Girls That video managed to capture my attention and resurrect the unapologetically fun, carefree nature of my middle school self.
Instead of solely focusing on emulating the arguably problematic glamour of the 2010s club scene, Girls That emphasizes both the good and the embarrassing of this period. Kicking off the video is a skit played out by Andrew and WASTEDJU over a call taken on a Motorola flip phone about making a $2K club appearance, a parody of 2000s celebrity culture.
Throughout the rest of the video, Girls That embraces the gaudiness of the decade from imagery of a hotel pregame to shots of the duo dancing with a seemingly intoxicated friend in a pink bunny suit; not to mention the pair’s fashion choice of skinny bootcut jeans and a houndstooth-patterned scarf. Playful and silly, the “Turn It Up !” music video felt like a genuine ode to a celebrated time in pop culture, leaving me excited for whatever direction they take as a duo in the coming year.