Coco and Clair Clair commune with the 5 elements

Spending time with them is as if all the best parts of the Internet gained consciousness and become hilarious friends.

Photo credit: Photo by Daniela Rodriguez

Water, earth, fire, wood, and metal — these are the five elements found in the Taoist tradition that are believed to be the sources from which all our energies are derived. After a long chat with Coco Coco and Clair Clair of Coco and Clair Clair, I realized I had been unknowingly schooled in the lessons of the five elements and their energies in our Internet age by two quick-witted professors of life. Spending time with them is as if all the best parts of the Internet have gained consciousness (often considered the sixth element) and become hilarious friends. Rapid-fire answers, amazing animal videos, obscure pop culture references, intelligently funny critiques on modern culture, connecting with your best friends and realizing that everything you ever put on the Internet can make you a recognizable stranger. Dreadlocked skater outside of Aurora with the dance moves on Vine, we’re looking at you.

The production of their songs are perfect for parties, and it can be easy to overlook their lyrics when blasting their songs at full volume. But a careful listen reveals tales of love and life in our digital age. Below are some of the nuggets of wisdom gleaned on a picture perfect spring afternoon.

WATER

“Water” offers sage emotional advice. Feeling angry at someone? Thirsty for a fight? You could feed those negative emotions or drink some water and cool down. “Hydrate or burn in hell” is their chorus to remind us all it’s better to go with the flow and just take care of yourself then “look a little dusty.” Full disclosure: I’m old, and I had to Google what that means, and am probably misusing it.

EARTH
We come from dust and end up as dust, just like all animals on our planet earth. Coco connects with a special animal, the koala drop bear. “My spirit animal is a koala bear because they are vicious. I’m cute and you think she’s a good girl and then you get to know me and gah gah gah I scratch your eyes out! Drop bears sound like they are in a metal band”

FIRE
Ether is a highly flammable liquid, it’s has no smell and catches fire quickly. Clair Clair told me they “met on Twitter,” a place where things often catch on at a moment’s notice. “I used to be popular on Twitter, I had some good ones. Then I reached 1,000 and deleted it.” For Coco, “I’m just talking shit. It’s kind of a diary. Did you know there’s a website where you can take your old tweets and turn them into a book?” It’s called Ether Press and it will take your odorless, shit talking tweets and turn them into a combustible book. That way, if you’re like Coco and one time you tweeted at Juicy J and he said “sup” back, that tweet can be kindling for fire when we all go off the grid.

WOOD
When you’re ready to get off the grid and head to the woods, Clair Clair will have a place for you — if you’re invited. “I want to be in the scene because I want to be off the grid soon. I have a plan ... I’m going to move to New York and buy a farm ... And we are going to have a little commune, not political. It’s a cult, a cult of love. And I won’t talk to anyone in Atlanta except my parents.”

METAL
The WikiHow page for How to be Metal offers some sage advice in its Warnings section: When meeting older musicians, “Venerate them and you may learn a lot from them.” When it comes to Ryan Parks of Fit of Body, Clair Clair demands “a shout out!” Coco concurs, “We love Fit of Body. He’s probably our favorite artist. He’s so good and so modest.”

Coco and Clair Clair will be educating 529 tonight (Wed., May 4) with BIG DED, So Brite, Dandy Warhol, and Potted Plant. $5. 9 p.m. 529, 529 Flat Shoals Ave. 404-228-6769. www.529atlanta.com.