ROCK VIDEOS THAT DON'T SUCK, A.D. 2/28/97
"I watch MTV and think it sucks and I think most videos are sh*tty. But I watch because I like knowing what's going on. I want to know that the last No Doubt video sucked so I don't do it myself."
- Trent Reznor quoted in an upcoming issue of SPIN Magazine
Veruca Salt - "Volcano Girls"
[dir. Nancy Bardawill and Paul Andresen]
I haven't figured out whether Veruca Salt is pop, punk, metal, or
a combination of the three. I do know, however, that frontladies
Nina Gordon and Louise Post are quite the lookers, the songs (three-chord guitar
anthems with angelic femme harmonies on top) are catchy AND rock
hard, and the videos are a lot of fun. Especially this one, as VS ricocchet
about on bungie cords individually and en masse. About
the deepest the video gets is the "Seether" cross-reference cum
Beatles/"Glass Onion" tribute ("Well here's another
clue, if you please/The Seether's Louise!") in which Ms.
Post offers a rueful smile and a "Yeah, well, guilty as
charged" handwave (see graphic above). Seether or not, Louise
also tears off a hot solo that should guarantee her a Deputy
Guitar God badge, at the very least...
The Presidents of the United States of
America - "Volcano" [dir. Mark Kohr]
Spikkin' of eruptions and fun bands [ha!]...If Veruca
Salt are campaigning to be the riot-grrl answer to AC-DC, the Prez's
have definitely become the computer-nerd version of the Monkees
-- and more power to 'em. Here, they're both the techies
designing a new stereo system (the "Volcano 6000") and the salesmen
interesting the customers in same (all the while making sure no
one pushes the big red "Power" button). Kohr, who
filmed most of Green Day's more entertaining clips, nimbly zips
us in and out of assorted video-monitor POV's, while the band
serves up probably their most complex (by their standards, at
least) toon to date. (I say this as a weekend rocker who cringed
through an MTV concert of theirs in which every damn
song was in the key of C#!)
Beck - "The New Pollution"
[dir. Beck Hansen]
Never know what to expect from this guy, and "New
Pollution" is no exception. The song's similarities to vintage George
Harrison have been commented on elsewhere; what's left visually
is a funny and dead-on tribute to the "Shindig"/"Hulabaloo"
class of pop music TV shows, with garish sets, "mod" fashions
for Beck's band, and frantically frugging dancers. (Not to
mention good-natured digs at Motley Crue and Kraftwerk...) Beck's
own (semi-successful) attempt at a James Brown-style split midsong
is no accident; if he's not trying to become "the hardest
working man in show biz," he's at least gunning for the
title of "Mr. Entertainment."
Fiona Apple - "Sleep to Dream"
[dir. Stephane Sednaoui]
This is a case of a borderline clip (Fiona mopes around
her apartment, frequently morphing positions with ALTERED STATES-style
psychedelics) being redeemed by a GREAT song. "You
say love is a hell you cannot bear/And I say gimme mine back and
then go there - for all I care." Ouch. And you Alanis was
pissed off at her boyfriend! Said lyric delivered in a throaty,
foggy blues-croon that does not match the lady singing it.
More on this week's featured artistes:
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