Songs You May Have Missed #779

Pomplamoose: “Bust Your Kneecaps” (2016)

Husband-and-wife led Pomplamoose have found an atypical business model that works for them–to the tune of about 2 million YouTube subscribers.

Where artists have historically promoted physical product with music videos, Pomplamoose have subverted the dominant paradigm in that their videos are the songs. “Videosongs”.

There is no lip-syncing. Every vocal is performed on camera. Every instrument you hear, you will see.

Literally what you see is what you get.

Jack and Nataly Conte and friends want to demystify the music process and a culture that seems to put artists and bands in some rarified realm.

Their videos remove the “smoke and mirrors”, as they put it, replacing fakery with authenticity, the pedestal with accessibility. The only rarified thing here is their talent.

While most of the material they perform is cracking covers and brilliant mashups, “Bust Your Kneecaps” is an original. It’s a charming, darkly comic ode to the dangers of breaking up with the wrong girl.

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2021/03/18/songs-you-may-have-missed-684/

Songs You May Have Missed #684

Pomplamoose: “Something About Us” (2019)

Formed in 2008 by (now married) Stanford students Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn, Pomplamoose are…uh…I think I’ll let them explain for themselves:

With over 1.2 million YouTube subscribers, Pomplamoose have carved a non-traditional niche as a band. They don’t rely on record companies, extensive touring or physical album sales, instead creating a new “videosong” every week for their YouTube channel, streaming their songs, and providing music for TV ads for companies such as Toyota and Hyundai.

They mix originals and an eclectic variety of covers and inspired mashups, placing them in fresh and often jazz-tinged settings.

Remarkably, the performance you see in a Pomplamoose video is the same that you hear–it is never a lip-synched re-enactment but an actual recording session.

Watch the session for the above “single”, a cover of Daft Punk’s “Something About Us”.

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2025/05/15/songs-you-may-have-missed-779/