Watch 'Puttin' on the Ritz' as a psychedelic, Mad Men–era fever dream

Pomplamoose/YouTube

Watch 'Puttin' on the Ritz' as a psychedelic, Mad Men–era fever dream
(Image credit: Pomplamoose/YouTube)

I want to say maybe this is like an episode of Mad Men — or I Love Lucy, for that matter — as reinterpreted by a puppeteer tripping on psychedelics? In what's apparently becoming a trend — a welcome one — the band Pomplamoose just released a visually arresting video for an irresistibly catchy cover version of a classic song as a form of self-promotion. In this case, the song is Irving Berlin's "Puttin' On the Ritz," fair game ever since Taco covered the song in 1982.

Neither cover has much to do with Fred Astair's iconic rendition, but Pomplamoose — duo Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn — do a nice job with the oddly timeless 1929 tribute to gawking at the super-rich:

Here Taco's version, trippy in its own way. --Peter Weber

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Peter Weber

Peter Weber is a senior editor at TheWeek.com, and has handled the editorial night shift since the website launched in 2008. A graduate of Northwestern University, Peter has worked at Facts on File and The New York Times Magazine. He speaks Spanish and Italian and plays bass and rhythm cello in an Austin rock band. Follow him on Twitter.