There were funny videos, too, usually made to accompany the music of technically inept chancers who would never have made it if their Uncles hadn't been so well-connected in the entertainment industry (hey there, We Are Scientists). Remarkably, some of these funny videos transcended their quarter-hourly rotation on VH1 to become initially entertaining but quickly grating house party "favourites", as everyone who has ever bro-danced to this little beauty will attest. Then there was the tragic case of the Beastie Boys, whose reliably entertaining videos in their later career eventually came to eclipse the groundbreaking hip-hop of their earlier albums in the public consciousness.
Occasionally, some good bands made some very good videos, but the great bands of my formative years mainly stuck to the tried and tested "blokes playing instruments in a big room" formula which has endured since Joy Division immemorial.
However, with the onset of iTunes, illegal downloading, and spending 3 hours every day looking at your own profile on facebook, bands have to try harder than ever make their videos stand out from the crowd. The following video from Titus Andronicus, who both of my readers will recognise as my Favourite Band in The Universe, shows some of the disastrous consequences of this overexertion.
The 'In a Big City' video is nothing less than a self-indulgent shambles. Director Isaac Ravishankara appears to have tried to rewrite Taxi Driver for the Urban Outfitters generation - an effort I applaud - but has instead crafted something more akin to Oldboy director Park Chan-Wook remixing Richard Ashcroft's infamous stroll down the road. Lead singer Patrick Stickles is forced to walk through public parks singing lyrics like "lifeless automaton, feeling like a ghost" as the rest of his band stumble a few steps behind, looking understandably embarrassed. More infuriating, however, is the director's decision to contrast Stickles' psychotic glare with the sort of soft-focus rural cinematography most commonly found in the B-rolls of second year film students. The ending, meanwhile, manages to invoke both the September 11th terrorist attacks and Coldplay without giving any sense of meaning or resolution. Perhaps a band such as Titus Andronicus - which specialises in making music to listen to while carving names into hollowpoint bullets - is not naturally suited to the medium of the promotional video, but in this case even a black screen would be a more welcome visual accompaniment.
With it's moody stares, choreographed stumbling and baffling slow-motion sequences, 'In a Big City' can be viewed as the ultimate proof that it is worse to try too hard than to not try at all. As an effective counterpoint, please consider a relatively recent video by The Soft Pack, who both of my readers will recognise as My Second-Favourite Band in the Universe.
This video, for 'Extinction', should be distributed to all emerging indie bands as a solid example of how to do it right. First of all, shoot it in black and white: it's cheaper and makes everybody look more handsome. Secondly, arch one's eyebrows (the Casablancas technique) at every opportunity: this is the postmodern wilderness of the 21st Century, guys, nothing and nobody actually matters all that much any more. Thirdly, add some oblique and ambiguous writing to the background: is "WILL NOT HOLD WEIGHT" a literal failure of the billboard or does it fit in with the song's rejection of responsibility and emotional diplomacy? I'm not sure, but it'll kick the youtube comments off very nicely.
