If I had to guess what the next video from D.C. dream-pop duo GEMS would look like, I’d venture it would be something moody, black and white and shot near a dramatic cliffside. I would not predict gold grills, cocaine and the ATL Twins.
But that’s what we get in the new Dazed and Confused-presented video for “Sinking Stone,” which is better described as a short action film with all the clichés of a Bonnie and Clyde remake, directed by filmmakers Alex Lee and Kyle Wightman, aka BRTHR. For this six-minute piece, the directors roped in the grill-wearing, outfit-coordinating twins who aren’t originally from Atlanta (they grew up in Chattanooga)—and if you saw Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers, you’ll recognize them right away.
In the video, GEMS’ Lindsay Pitts and Clifford Usher make up the soundtrack to a young couple’s series of bad decisions—drugs, guns, more drugs and more guns—but they don’t make a cameo, which may be for the best.