Across the 208 seconds that make up the Low vs Diamond "Heart Attack" video, Lucas Field grows from a young man to an old man.
His eyes gaze deeply into the eyes of a would-be lover. Between verses that evoke longing, life and death, Field stays locked in a timeless kiss with her.
Then his hair begins to turn silver. His smooth skin begins to wrinkle. The firm contours of his jaw begin to soften.
The motion of the video suddenly stops. The former faces of young desire start cracking like parched mud. They crumble into dry dust, until a blast of color raises them from the dead and returns them to fashionable youth.
The camera pulls back to redefine the moment. On a sidewalk, Field is picking up something the woman has dropped from her purse. She's a stranger - the kiss his fantasy.
"Heart Attack" isn't just one of the most compelling music videos I've ever seen. It defines the artistic character of Low vs Diamond.
This Los Angeles band is epic and melodramatic on a scale rarely experienced in rock music anymore. Their music brims with muscular electric guitars that rise predictably to choral crescendos. If Low vs Diamond's sound has a modern peer, it's Coldplay. It's a sound full of minor-chord melodrama that screams to be heard in a grand arena, in the glow of big lights, fog machines and an orgy of pumping fists.
The band's curious name originates from the frequent tiffs drummer Howie Diamond once had with an ex-band member's girlfriend.
The name fits. After all, says Field, this band loves conflicting moods: "Playing live, you get a chill, with everybody singing along. It's just this big climatic moment of melodramatic emotion. I can't get away from those kinds of chord progressions and those kinds of melodies."