The music has a lot to do with this. One of the more sprightly offerings from the founded-at-Yale band’s recently released second album, Callithump, “We Got It Made” skips along at a bouncing clip with its arms linked with tuneful brass and rich harmonies. In the chorus, the trio sings praises to daily life and builds to a brief pause at the title: “We got it … made!” It’s cathartic, powerful and really damn cute.
The video turns the cuteness up to 11, taking us along with the band as it strolls the streets of New Haven to turn people’s frowns upside down. Asserting the curative powers of music is a well-worn trope of music videos, but what separates “We Got It Made” from its predecessors is that the extras are having just as much fun as the stars. Case in point: You will rarely see more enthusiastic gesturing with a trumpet than you will in this video. The twinge of envy I feel for not having joined the big band concert is overshadowed by Plume Giant’s endearing message about the pleasures of collaboration.