They Still Make Videos: Arctic Monkeys' "Crying Lightning"

The haters are out in full force on this one. Pitchfork called it "awkward." The Mensa-ready YouTube reviewer population either don't get it or don't care. Maybe the words are justified. The video for the number one song on this week's Mixtape is as cheesy as they come: a fake ocean tossing around a fake boat while the band probably fake play their instruments. It doesn't matter.

The video doesn't need to support Alex Turner's narrative about the mysterious game at the heart of his from-love-to-hate tale of female-fueled frustration. Turner's always been a good lyricist, at times great. Gobstopper and pic-a-mints aside, "Crying Lightning" is proof that Turner is continuing to improve his tale weaving skills. I think the band made the right call by putting their playing up front - until the 100 foot spirit representations of the band members rise from the water.

The video isn't an instant classic. It certainly doesn't approach the bar that the band's "Fluorescent Adolescent" set a couple years back. But it doesn't matter. The song and writing are another positive step forward for the best band to come out of England since Oasis. Yeah. I said it. The video is just the work of a band confident enough to do what they want, how they want, with little regard for conventional wisdom.

Draw your own conclusions below.

Three Strange Vids

Ahh...the video. That seemingly forgotten art form that once captivated a nation and propelled a cable channel to unprecedented stratospheres of notoriety. The paradigm of music delivery has shifted over the years, rendering a once-great marketing tool and artistic medium nearly irrelevant.

Though iTunes has all but replaced record stores and MTV is nothing more than a vehicle for a plethora of shows scraping societal dung from the bottom of the proverbial barrel, it's worth noting that bands do still make videos and some even put a little thought and creativity into their product.

Below are three recent artistic representations of great songs.

Disclaimer: Watching these videos may disturb and delight, possibly causing you to wet yourself. You've been warned.


Heads Will Roll / Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Karen O = most amazing female rock figure alive right now. Usually a magnetic presence on screen or in person, Miss O happily shares face time with what can best be described as the hypothetical love child of John Travolta circa Saturday Night Fever and the Beast from Beauty and the Beast. I smell a new dance craze brewing here.




Kids / MGMT

A great song from a great band's first full-length (and also great) album that has legs longer than Bar Rafaeli. This is the song that won't die. If we can learn anything from this clip, it's that Joanna Newsom can act as well as sing and that we really need to listen when our children tell us they're scared of monsters.




Two Weeks / Grizzly Bear

A gorgeous song from one of the best bands on the planet right now. Lush and airy like the voices in Brian Wilson's head, Grizzly Bear's "Two Weeks" is approaching the top of the Mixtape and leading the breakout year for the Brooklyn band as they support their third album, "Veckatimest." You can go here to see the guys perform "Two Weeks" sans their inner light.

Animal Collective on Letterman

Animal Collective performed "Summertime Clothes" last night on Letterman and it was nothing short of amazing. AC's album, Merriweather Post Pavilion, has been critically gushed over and declared a front-runner for album of the year when it was released just 20 days into the year. This clips shows why they are also one of the best live acts out there.