I like a good low-budget video. Here’s Elemeno P slowly establishing themselves as a party punk group, with their ode to Nirvana and favourite their love of music.. Original bassist Jules was making his final appearance in the band, ready to be replaced by Lani from Foamy Ed.
The video puts the band in a room divided into four parts – red, blue, green and yellow, for each of the band remembers. They are identified by Scrabble tiles spelling out their names. I bet you’re wondering, so I’ve tallied up the scores: Gibbo (10) – two more points than “Dave”, Scotty (11), Jules (12) and Justyn (16). Justyn gets lucky with both the J (8) and Y (4) in his name. The band name, which spins around on a giant turntable in the centre of the room, is worth only 12 points.
The video is directed by Greg Page, which I had suspected by the rockin’ camera work. But then this little graphic kept popping up, a “Rock-o-meter” which indicates when the band is rocking really hard. It just seems like a Greg Page kind of thing.
With the group’s previous video, “Fast Times in Tahoe” putting them in a sedate country club, this is the video that’s a chance to show the band’s ability to really rock out. You know, they can play their instruments and all. Gibbo especially goes for it, putting on an energetic display in his monochrome Union Jack jumper, singing into one of four microphones.
But what impresses me most is that the lyric “Did I ever mention you’d look wicked in my video?” is not used as a cue to put a cute girl in the video. So in a way, the listener can imagine that she (or he) is the one who would look wicked in the video. With “Nirvana”, Elemeno P established themselves as highly entertaining music dorks.
Best bit: Justyn’s mighty rock poses.
Director: Greg Page
Next… crossword cheating never pays.