I took in Stars‘ show at The Fillmore in San Francisco on Saturday night (Diamond Rings opened). Having never seen the Montreal indie-pop band live before, the crowd’s cultish reception took me by total surprise. Stars returned that ecstatic love in equal measures, but as a casual fan, I found it somewhat off-putting, particularly as expressed by co-vocalist Torquil Campbell. Later learning that he’s the son of actors and an actor himself does explain Campbell’s tendency toward the dramatic.

There’s a tiny bit of drama on display in Stars’ new music video for “Backlines,” taken from the band’s largely stellar sixth studio album, The North. Miniaturized and mechanized in the form of a menacing dinosaur and an army tank, the boxed-in band plays on as sparks fly.

Purchase Stars – “Backlines” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.