Head Like a Hole – Page 2 – 5000 Ways to Love You

Head Like A Hole “Hootenanny”

HLAH knew how to make people dance. “Hootenanny” is a hootenanny, a boistrous rockstravaganza that got crowds moving. The video works with this energy, using footage of the band playing in various live situations.

There’s a reminder of Bands in the Square, the annual Wellington alternative rock series, sponsored by the much loved radio station Channel Z. It seems quite outrageous to see bands packing out the area between the town hall and the library. These days the Homegrown festival sprawls over most of the downtown waterfront area.

As well as the live footage, we also see the band mucking around in various situations – in guitar studio, jumping into a lake, teeing off, and in front of an old concrete building.

The pace of the video gets a little slack at times, missing opportunities to really kick arse with the music, but it fits right in with the crazy universe of HLAH.

Best bit: mini golf!

Director: Ian McCarroll
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… chatter rings.

Head Like a Hole “Cornbag”

For their third album, “Double Your Strength, Improve Your Health and Lengthen Your Life”, HLAH had evolved to a country inspired sound. The “Cornbag” video goes with that, placing the band in a mysterious old country shack.

Inside the shack, we discover the band are dressed as astronauts, like some hillbillies who figured out the fundamentals of rocket science. The shackship takes off, wobbles around the solar system for a bit before crashing back on Earth…. or is it?

We find the band in their civilian gear playing on a stage. Either the procenium arch is low or the band have actually landed in a planet of little people. The second option is more likely, given the logic of this video.

The raw days of “Fish Across Face” are long gone. This is a good introduction to the new HLAH sound but ensures the essential HLAHness is still there.

Best bit: the giant phallic joystick.

Director: Andrew Beattie
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… alone in the desert of alienation.

Head Like a Hole “Spanish Goat Dancer”

More high-jinks from the HLAH lads. This time they are under the influence of a goat (presumedly a Spanish goat, that is also a dancer) which is making strange things happen.

First a pack of dogs roam the streets, leading an unsuspecting cyclist to the goat. The action then turns to a suburban house where the band are subverting the kitchen with a crossdressing housewife and 1960s-style cheesy ad salesman.

Then the goat is on the street where a demonic preacher sternly preachers to a crowd gathered below. What further chaos could the goat cause? Well, he finds HLAH’s rehearsal space and gets all Batman on them – DOOF!

One thing’s to be said for HLAH – they make visually exciting videos.

Best bit: the dinosaur kitchen cleaning spray.

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… adventures in a room.

Head Like a Hole “Fish Across Face”

“Fish Across Face” suddenly appeared out of the blue, settled in at number nine in the charts and left everyone wondering who exactly this Head Like a Hole musical group was.

From their early metal years, the “Fish Across Face” video features the band naked (but for body paint) in most scenes. But Wikipedia says the video was banned for a different reason – in one very brief shot, liquid flows from the mouth of one HLAH to another (and apparently it was orange juice). At the time there was a meningitis outbreak, so concerned authorities didn’t want kids to copy this thing. They might as well ban pashing.

As well as the body paint, there’s high jinks in the ocean, at a rubbish dump and on a bouncy castle. While it all looks like a fun low budget video, there’s a rather sophisticated crane shot right at the end (or is it just a guy standing on a ladder).

“Fish Across Face” seems like such a perfect NZ On Air music video – the band stretches the budget as far as it will go, has fun and generally creates a ruckus that keep them buoyant for years to come.

Best bit: bouncy castle fun times!

Director: Nigel Streeter
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… really feeling the love of Jesus.