Every year, I scour the internet for the best indie, underground, and otherwise missable music videos. Over the last 12 months I’ve watched close to a thousand, and I’ve picked 50 for your to enjoy. From rocking cats to retro-futurism to the triumphant return of one of the internet’s best viral stars, here is the first installment.
50. “Keep Going,” Guster
This year I had to disqualify a lot of animated music video thanks to AI garbage. Thank the music gods for people like Graham Mason, who turned in an excellent little animated outing for Guster. Nothing overly flashy; just good old-fashioned artistry. I wish more people who do it.
49. “Jeg Hører Deg,” Gabbarein
Breakups affect everyone differently, and if Cecilie Hafstad wants to channel her pain by wearing a strange costume and screaming inside an art installation who are we to judge? Joking aside, the raw emotion of the song mixes well with the hard stone of the setting and makes the entire experience very powerful.
48. “Hate Myself,” Letdown.
Work sucks (not this job. Please don’t fire me). Director Max Morris lets the singer Blake Coddington rage, rage against the dying of the light after a boss asks for one too many late nights in a cathartic orgy of office destruction that should put a smile on many a corporate cog’s face.
47. “Heartbreak Feels Good in a Place Like This (I’m NOT Ryan Gosling),” Ray Hawthorne
Nothing in life is going to live up to the magic of the movies, and Ray Hawthorne makes that clear in this video. With some deft use of green screen, he Forrest Gumps his way through some of the greatest films of all time, trying to impress the world but ultimately just being a bystander. It’s rare to see such a rocking anthem to the concept of managed expectations.
46. “Who You Gonna Call?” Solence
Calling an ambulance to fix someone’s broken legs with the power of a guitar solo is the kind of nonsense we were supposed to leave behind in the 1980s, but it’s nice to see the cat drag it back in every once in a while. Solence makes the silliness fun, playing with toy cars and performing out of the side of a moving van. Would have liked to see a miraculous rock and roll healing at the end, but the ride there was worth it.
45. “What Remains,” Pop Evil
Pop Evil is still one of the best hard rock/vaguely metallic acts in America. “What Remains” is a fantastic video with some real production value behind its weird corporate dystopia setting. While neither the song nor the video break any new ground, both are a comfortably rocking ride that satisfies like an old 1990s action flick.
44. “Trust!,” Rebecca Black
It’s been 13 years since a teenage Rebecca Black conquered the internet with the so-bad-it-rules “Friday.” Mindful of her almost-pop-princess past, “Trust!” has her dry-humping a judge’s bench and stroking a rhinestone-encrusted chainsaw like it’s a phallus. Black has always been the epitome of tryhard, but she remains charming whether she is doing Disney Channel or degeneracy. It doesn’t hurt that “Trust!” is a pretty good club tune. Black is always worth watching one way or another.
43. “Little Bit Longer,” Kandle
Retro-futurism is back in style again, and Kandle’s video is all about it. She plays the leader of a trio of alien sirens who dance and seduce an astronaut. The 1960s aesthetic is beautiful (using an old CRT TV aspect ratio is a nice touch), and the costumes are fantastic. The only downside is the novelty of the concept wears off a little before the video ends, but it’s inarguably pretty.
42. “Ten Years in Houston,” Jumprope feat. Justin Clay
Anyone who has grown up in Houston can tell you about rolling down the hill in Hermann Park. It’s up there with drinking from the lion water fountain at the zoo and eating a deep-friend desert at the Rodeo as far as local coming-of-age milestones go. Jumprope turned that into a psychedelic exploration of being stuck in in Texas, with Justin Clay standing in as an abusive clock. As the kids say: ain’t that a mood?
41. “Taylor Has 3 Cats,” Ocean & the Stars
You know those ads you see on Facebook that say they’ll put your cat’s face on a pair of pajamas? Okay, now imagine that same company but instead of pajamas its Green Day’s “When I Come Around” music video. Ocean & the Stars frisky-frolic through the city streets in furry masks while chanting about the pets of America’s biggest white pop star. It’s a good time and a fine place to stop the first installment. Tune in tomorrow for Part 2!
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
