Lucid 3 comes along as a break in the rock-dominated world of early 2000s music videos. A bit of jazz, some trip-hop, some pop and a bit of folk mean they stand out amongst the sneering dude-rock bands of the era.
“Curious” starts with the beater of a kick drum doing the very same giant-marshmallow trick we recently saw in a Dimmer video. And indeed, some serious beats and slinky bass introduces the very lovely trio of Victoria, Marcus and Derek.
The band are performing in an empty room. Victoria is in the middle, with the other two on either side. It’s quite an artistic setting, with no attempt at pretending the band is gigging. Victoria is good at delivering down-the-barrel pop visuals, and the different shots of the band are layered to give a moody, lazy feel.
It’s all going really smoothly, but suddenly the chorus kicks in with some electric guitar. That’s fine (and it sounds great) but the video doesn’t acknowledge this. It keeps on with the same style as the earlier smooth stuff. This and the stationary camera shots gives the impression that we’re watching different feeds of CCTV cameras, not a music video.
There’s an attempt to liven things up with a hearty headbang from Victoria (and she has the hair for it), as well as a few rock poses, but it feels a little awkward in the otherwise restrained setting of the video. It’s like, if the band aren’t really feeling the chorus, why should I?
Best bit: bass player Marcus’s biceps. He has bought us tickets to the gun show.
Next: don’t bogart that elf.