A few seconds after starting The Pains of Being Pure at Heart’s new video for “Simple and Sure,” you’ll wonder whether you’re watching some kind of video looping or a group of people performing the same small gestures over and over. A few seconds after that, you’ll be pretty sure that yes, these are just shots of people repeating the same actions, but you’ll be unable to put your finger on how exactly you know that. Then, you’ll start noticing the little tics: a dancer wobbling irregularly, eyes blinking out of time with the rest of a loop, a shoulder shrugging slightly more emphatically than it did last time. The coordination on display is impressive, and taken together, it nicely injects human physicality and imperfection into a form that’s characterized by digital precision. Watch it above.
