6 Wonderfully Wild and Weird Videos from Descartes a Kant

Hailing from Guadalajara, Mexico, Descartes a Kant is a wonderfully eclectic and genre-smashing ensemble, and listening to their music feels like you’re taking a sonic Rorschach test. What do you hear in it? On their Instagram page, they describe themselves as “Art Rock-Prog Punk of the retro future.” Then their booking agency lists them as “equal parts punk, metal, pop, shoegaze and cabaret.” However you slice it, Descartes a Kant’s music is refreshingly off-kilter and enchantingly quirky.

Augmenting their music, the group creates videos that showcase an adventurousness not seen as much in mainstream media. The group’s fourth and most recent album After Destruction inspired a slew of videos with the group decked out in color-coordinated coveralls or uniforms and performing on brightly colored sets. A sextet for many years, the now-streamlined quartet includes guitarist/frontwoman Drushka Petrova, guitarist/vocalist Ana Cristina Mo, bassist/vocalist/synthesist Memo Ibarra, and drummer/sampler Leo Padua. Their newest member is “the DAK,” which according to Petrova, “replaces a synth/piano player and unites the whole concept of After Destruction.” That concept being survival in a simulated reality. The DAK joined them in their recent video cycle.

Here are six wild and weird videos from this Mexican band who have been bubbling under here since 2006. Yes, many of us have been missing out on them for a long time. But thanks to the YouTube algorithms, recent European festival dates, and a U.S. tour commencing on September 15, they’re deservedly reaching a wider audience.

“After Destruction” from After Destruction (2023)

While previous Descartes releases took a sonic kitchen-sink approach at times (two of their influences are John Zorn and Mike Patton), the group’s latest often utilizes more conventional song structures while still staying lovably weird. Big Devo vibes emanate from this clip with the bobblehead foursome’s synchronized, robotic movements. Add in blue neon, smoke, and old-school computer graphics invoking an ‘80s aura, and it somehow fits the Black Sabbath grind meets noisy indie rock vibes of the song. Ibarra’s haircut makes him like a young Spock, too.

“A Catastrophe” from After Destruction (2023)

This ambient electronic composition spotlights a spoken-word track about mental afflictions and then a vocoded melody expressing loneliness. The purposely dated (late ‘70s/early ‘80s) and processed computer graphics and video of mom and daughter jive with the old-school synth sounds. The focus here in this lyric video isn’t on the band members but the surreal images conjured by the DAK. Don’t know that you’d want to get trapped inside of that screen.

“Apricot Dreams” from Victims of Love Propaganda (2017)

This video uses more a more extreme widescreen aspect ratio than most, so don’t watch it on your phone. Horror fans will dig the weird atmosphere and odd set of characters—a lady in red sewing herself up after removing her heart; a high-heel thief wearing bunny ears and a gas mask; the band in abstract Sgt. Pepper’s mode; spastic, gas-masked violinists; and eerie, twirling ladies in white. If you ever wondered what a collision of industrial, classical, and nursery rhymes might sound like, listen no further. The late Nirvana producer Steve Albini sat behind the boards for this album.

“Motion Picture Dream Boy” from Victims of Love Propaganda (2017)

The slow-moving, glowing image of a couple lovingly gazing into each other’s eyes while being glitter-showered gets briefly disrupted when she cuts his hand with a knife. The rest of the clip feels like a weird private prom for the couple with the band as accompaniment. That is, until he vanishes into thin air. The scenario feels like it might burst into bloody Carrie territory but never does, which gives it a sense of underlying dread. That’s only augmented by the music, which sounds like noise rock whittled down into ‘60s bubblegum pop—if that can be a thing.

“Crime Scene” (Live, 2017)

This concert clip comes from a performance in support of Victims of Love Propaganda. How many bands feature a number with air-raid sounds and police tape separating them from the audience, with members in hazmat suits scrutinizing the singer like a murder suspect? This gives you the idea of the unexpected nature of a DAK performance. Their recent tour has found the band executing their synched-up video moves as well.

“The Peter Pan Syndrome” from Il Visor Lunatique (2012)

If you missed the oddball cabaret shenanigans of early Dresden Dolls and Panic! At the Disco videos from the ‘00s, then welcome to a strange little birthday party that Tim Burton would likely enjoy. It’s quirky neo-cabaret with dulcet pop harmonies tossed in. Actually, who knows what to call it—it’s just surreal fun. By the way, the album title means The Lunatic Viewer.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Photo courtesy Colonia Records via Facebook