exclusive: get lost in the surreal brilliance of danny denial’s conditioner

Danny Denial seems determined to singlehandedly reinvent the punk film. Their 2018 short DETHHEADS U.S.A. used Dead Like Me as the basis for thrillingly claustrophobic horror. The new short CONDiTiONER ups the stakes, blending songs from the recent fuck danny denial into a surreally dystopian drug-fueled nightmare. Where DETHHEADS U.S.A. was more a full length music video with a narrative thread, CONDiTiONER further blurs the line between film and album as it blurs the line between reality and fantasy.

Centering on Danny’s Baz, the film opens with Baz returning from tour and questioning reality. That existential dillema slowly morphs and decays into a fractured unreality, colored by shades of David Lynch, Boots Riley, and most notably Gregg Araki. Like the best of Danny’s music, the thrill is the way a million pixelated pieces of disparate genres combine into one tense self-contained reality.

Calling it a “trippy, pansexual melodrama about sex confusion and identity crises,” Danny explains that “CONDiTiONER is a short film that I’m hoping stands on its own, but also as a companion piece to the new LP.” They add “In the past, I’ve created albums and visuals as hybrids, like what I did with DETHHEADS U.S.A., but this time I wanted to make a short film the album could be a soundtrack to. CONDiTiONER is more of a remix, or reinterpretation of the record, with actual remixes of the songs by Fabio Lendrum, Noize London and Bibz. The film was shot by Leo Ramos and Eric Luck, filmed in Seattle’s Kremwerk complex with visuals by Blazinspace. Co-starring Natasha Lumba, Charlie Cscontos and Nozomi Momo, all of whom play on the record.”

For a different visual experience, Danny Denial is performing a livestream event tonight (July 30th) via BIG BLDG BASH. Check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/events/967124653728364/

And keep up with Danny on Instagram at @fuckdannydenial