I like a good debut. Tadpole burst into the world of indie pop with “Blind” and a Joe Lonie-directed video.
It has the Lonie signature – a good old gimmick. The band are playing the song in some sort of disused silo. Singer Renee starts off singing the verses in an claustrophobic tunnel, backing into the main chamber which lights up revealing the rest of the band for the chorus.
Things get a little repetitive. It’s obvious they are working in a very small space so there’s limited room for either the band or the camera to move in. The predictable path of the camera becomes a little distracting as the video goes on – into the chamber, pan right to the guitarist, down to the drummer, left to the bassist, back to the singer.
So it’s up to everyone involved to make the video come alive. Most of this work falls to singer Renee Brennan and she handles it well. I’m tickled to see she’s wearing body glitter in the video, which is like a pop culture carbon dating for 1998.
Tadpole were part of trio of successful female-fronted bands, rounded out by Stellar and Fur Patrol. Tadpole always felt like a band that on the verge of being massive but hadn’t quite got the mix right. The “Blind” video is a bit like that too. It’s a great introduction to Tadpole but it just feels like there’s some vital mojo missing from it.
Best bit: scratched on the tunnel wall, “JC 1964”.
Director: Joe Lonie
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision
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