cFc

New Video: The Early November, ‘Tell Me Why’

The Early November play make-believe in their new “Tell Me Why” video.

Love and war are flip sides of the same coin. It’s an analogy as appropriate today as it was in Homer’s “Odyssey” and Pat Benatar‘s “Love is a Battlefield” (just to name a few examples). The Early November, the New Jersey five-piece and early ’00s Vans Warped Tour mainstays, know what we mean. Their new video, “Tell Me Why,” sets the tale of lost love to one of imagined war. OR IS IT REAL AFTER ALL? Probably not, but, you know, it feels like it sometimes .

Watch The Early November’s “Tell Me Why” video after the jump. 

The song’s video, taken from last summer’s In Currents, TEN’s first album since 2006, follows a young boy running through the woods, firing imaginary bullets at unseen enemies and running for his life from something that he doesn’t quite understand. Long story short, it’s a good way to sum up the last 20 years of emotional pop-punk, TEN’s preferred style.

“Tell me why you left/ tell me where you went/ tell me why am I worth the lines,” Arhur Enders sings in multi-tracked, harmonized vocals here over a swell of power chords and uplifting synths. “Tell me all you want/ keep me holding on/ Tell me lies/ tell me why.”

“We’ve been working with (director) Trevor Bowman for the past few years and knew he would do a great job with this one,” guitarist Joe Marro told us. “He has a great understanding of what we do and do not like and the band’s aesthetic. For ‘Tell Me Why,’ I knew I didn’t want something too linear or song specific. I’m a bigger fan of seeing interesting images and letting the viewer piece them together and make a picture out of it. The video itself gives makes me slightly nostalgic, and you really worry for the boy during parts, mainly due to his great performance. At the end, it’s relieving and content, which compliments the song nicely.”

“Tell Me Why”‘s visuals DO fit the song’s theme nicely. Much like the boy in the video, it can be hard to tell what’s real or not real in a relationship. What were we fighting for? Who were we fighting against? Most of the time it was ourselves, and not some easily blamable unseen force. Sometimes, however, it was definitely creeping tree monsters like the ones in “Tell Me Why,” who, as legend has it, have been plotting to overthrow the hearts and minds of young people everywhere since the dawn of time. The only way to fight back is to refuse to accept their power. Also, chain saws. Either that, or drown out your sorrows with romantic rock songs. Maybe we’ll try the latter here and see how that works out first. “Tell Me Why” makes it easy to want to.

+ Watch The Early November’s “Tell Me Why” video.

Photo credit: Lindsey Byrnes

Rihanna’s Denim Thong Makes Us Miss The Good Ol’ Days When She Was Just Naked (PHOTO)

Rihanna has a denim thong, and it’s INTENSE.

We’ll just start off by saying we’re wayyyy liberal up in here. So when Rihanna wanted to take an afternoon off to pose like Marilyn Monroe, we were all like, “NO PROBLEM!” When she wanted to grab her crotch? We said, “Enjoy!” When she decided to grind all up on her best friend like a lap dancer? We were fully supportive! When she revealed her preshow naked couch routine? We said, “MAZEL TOV!” When she wanted to pose naked in front of a fireplace wearing only a headdress, we were all like, “Do you, bb!” But today Rihanna wanted to do something that even WE are having issues with — and it’s the fact that she owns/wore/managed to fit into a DENIM THONG. Yes, a thong made of denim. Jeans without the butt or legs included. Think about that for a second. There you go.

See Rihanna’s denim thong after the jump.

So, now that we’ve filled you in on Rihanna’s Denim Thong-Gate 2013 (which the “Stay” singer posted then deleted on Instagram), it’s time to analyze. First, in WHAT world is that comfortable? An ordinary thong made of cotton or lace? OK, FINE. But that, ummm, “region” of the body calls for exclusively soft materials, if you know what we mean. Second, that’s gotta be a custom item, right? And most important, how do they even size a denim thong? Extra-small butt size through 3XL butt size?

Now, don’t get us wrong: Despite her tragic clothing choice, Ri’s butt does look EN FUEGO. Like, 10,000-squats-and-lunges-a-day-caliber perfect. It’s just that we’d prefer to see Rihanna’s butt in a bikini! Even a nice form-fitting dress! And fine — EVEN NAKED. Go for it. But a denim thong? That’s just a no. Just NOPE. Too far — EVEN for Rihanna.

+ Check out Rihanna’s denim thong.

Photo credit: Getty Images

Selena Gomez Makes The Most Hilarious Face Ever On A Fan’s Phone (PHOTO)

Selena Gomez makes a goofy face for a fan!

We can only begin to imagine the pressure Selena Gomez is under to take flawless photos all the time (not that she really has to try, or anything). There are probably moments when she’s like, “EFF IT! I’m gonna make a DERP face because I AM SELENA GOMEZ and can do whatever I want. BYE.” Case in point: Check out the above photo of Selena making a goofy face into a fan’s phone camera! Also, please note that even when Selena makes a hilarious face, she STILL looks like the spokesperson for perfection.

The “Come & Get It” singer was snapped making a funny face while hanging out in London for an interview with BBC Radio 1. And while we’re reallly hoping that this lucky Selenator made the photo her screen saver, we’re mostly giving Selena an A+ for re-creating Taylor Swift’s grossed-out expression toward her bestie kissing Justin Bieber backstage at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards! So maybe Selena’s face was a secret shout-out to Taylor? OR, maybe Selena had a morning bagel poppy seed stuck in her teeth and was staring into phone’s camera to fish it out? Hey, we’ve all SO been there.

Photo credit: WENN

New Song: Pharrell Williams, ‘Happy’

Pharrell Williams sounds pretty upbeat on his new song, “Happy,” from the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack.

Pharrell Williams has plenty to smile about these days. Not only is he apparently ageless and working with Miley Cyrus on her new album, but he’s also recently made a number of funk-flecked appearances on Daft Punk‘s recent Random Access Memories. (We’ll be dancing to “Get Lucky” until it makes us sick.) Well, now Pharrell’s got even more of reasons to grin with his new song, “Happy,” from the “Despicable Me 2″ soundtrack (dropping June 18), on which he also serves as executive producer.

Listen to Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” after the jump.

On the Neptunes-produced track (duh), Skateboard P brightly sings about being happy despite the things going wrong around him: “Here come bad news talking this and that/ Yeah, give me all you got, don’t hold back/ Yeah, well I should probably warn you I’ll be just fine/ Yeah, no offense to you don’t waste your time/ Here’s why/ Because I’m happy.”

Wow, NOTHING’S got Pharrell down! Maybe we should take his can-do attitude and apply it to our everyday lives?? So what that the dog left a “treat” in your room when you got home after a long day? Or that you just missed the train à la Gwyneth Paltrow in “Sliding Doors“? It’s OK! Just take a breath, look at the bigger picture, and realize that ultimately everything’s going to be fine. Thanks, Pharrell!

+ Listen to Pharrell Williams’ “Happy.”

Photo credit: Universal