The dominant emotion in Santiago, Chile-based Föllakzoid's "Pulsar" is surreal exhaustion. Directed by guitarist Domingo Garcia-Huidobro, who may have been watching a lot of Alejandro Jodorowsky films or reading Cormac McCarthy novels or both, a shadowy man pilots a horse through a desert choked with dust. Set in grainy black and white, that dust looks otherworldly – less a product of the earth's natural environment and more an ominous obstacle, cloaking everything in chaos. Garcia-Huidobro's decision to focus largely on the horse instead of the rider (at least until the last few minutes) feels important. Not soothing, exactly, but consistent enough to provide some sense of relief. "Pulsar" is a track built on constant tension: guitars twinkle, drums gallop and there's a gritty synth that whines – rising and falling like breathing – throughout, and that horse, running through a stormy desert looks like it could go forever. It's only toward the end of the video that we see the rider's face, lines carved in it by time and purpose. He never reacts to the camera or the environment. Never squints. He just keeps looking forward. The song eventually ends, but it doesn't seem like his ride ever will.
Föllakzoid tour the UK in November: London – ATP's Netil House (+ Porn) (25); Glasgow – Broadcast (26); Liverpool – The Kazimier (27); Camber Sands – ATP Festival (29). Full tour dates at Sacred Bones.
