Video: Less hair, more brains: Glendale duo De Lux looks ahead in ‘Oh Man the Future’

De Lux singer and lyricist Sean Guerin was merely trying to fall asleep when he struck upon the idea for “Oh Man the Future,” a song from the Glendale duo’s new album, “Generation.”

The topic of the group’s new video, which The Times is premiering here, popped into his head after listening to a record by performance artist Karen Finley. Guerin was struck by her creative demeanor.

“Her music isn’t actually the best to listen to, but her ambition is crazy,” he said. “One night on my phone, I was like, ‘You know, I’m just going to write down the most ridiculous things about the future,’ and I wrote down things that I never think about, almost going very deep into it in a way.”

He wrote it fast, and the next day, when he and bandmate Isaac Franco met in the studio, they turned his predictions into “Oh Man the Future.” The result is a catchy dance-pop ditty featuring Guerin’s sung-spoken lyrical predictions.

For example: “Social networking replaced by social interaction,” he sings optimistically while a quick beat and catchy melody work to keep up. “Virtual reality becomes sub reality. People make money off of being good in their life in a virtual game.” He then pauses during the song as if stunned by the potential: “Oh man the future!”

Or: “Humans have evolved into humans with way less hair, more brain power, and weaker bodies. We become what we thought to be aliens and we realize that we are the aliens.” Guerin expresses shock: “Oh the future is coming up sooner!”

“I could see that happening in the long run, maybe,” said Guerin when asked about the lyric. He added that he also has faith that we’ll catch a break on our bills: “People get personal satellites so they don’t have to pay for cellphone bills.”

On this song and the others on “Generation,” the goal was to focus on “what was going on with us now” and document the lives of his peer group, who were kids in the 1990s. “A lot of our friends and us,” he said, “live with our parents and we’re kind of dumb and lazy and not getting jobs because we want to do art.” Guerin added, “And we play a lot of video games.”

They dream of ice cream trucks, too.

Shot by Los Angeles director Eric Coleman of Mochilla, the clip for “Oh Man the Future” features the pair cruising in, and dancing around, while a treats truck rolls through the streets of Long Beach. Watch it above.

Follow Randall Roberts on Twitter: @liledit