Tomato sauce meets chips, a kind offer, bird guts, and the drama of smudged eyeliner.
Elemeno P “Better Days”
The “Better Days” video is a sweet tale of a nerdy guy looking for love. He ends up going to a fancy dress party, dressed as a bottle of tomato sauce. Even though Elemeno P are the party entertainment, he’s having a miserable time until he meets his perfect match – a girl dressed as chips. As always, Dave and Lani from the band continue to be super stylish, always bringing a cool new look to every video.
Director: Stephen Tolfrey
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision
Ethical featuring Bradd Marquis “Head on my Shoulders (Ages Turn)”
Ethical offers himself up as a fixer, a shoulder to cry on for his friends in need. There’s a darkness to the song – the implication being that bad things happened to his friends who didn’t reach out for help. The video is shot in black and white, putting Ethical and singer Bradd Marquis in basic settings, letting their performances and the song’s message dominate.
Director: Andrew Morton
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision
False Start “Four Letter Lie”
The YouTube title notes that this is the “UNCENSORED” version of the video, which has to be one of the most thrilling things that can happen to a band. I don’t know what specifically was censored, but the video contains graphic footage of a dead sparrow being prepared for taxidermy, and also a young woman slashing the chest of her boyfriend with a knife (echoing the taxidermy cut). It’s not explained why she wants to cut him. Despite all the gruesome scenes, the video is a lot more interesting than the song, an inoffensive soft rock ballad.
Director: James Solomon
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision
Gasoline Cowboy “Pass the Phone” – missing
“Pass the Phone” was Gasoline Cowboy’s final funded video. It’s possible that the funding was transfered to Jolyon Mulholland’s next band The Mots (later Mulholland), who will later appear in the December 1998 funding round.
Goodnight Nurse “I Need This”
YouTube commented dante89237 was confused. “is that a new singer? he doesn look like the one from always and never” While the dyed black hair and super emo fringe is gone, it’s still very much Grammy-award-winning songwriter Joel Little. The band are less glam in this video, looking super casual in shirts and sneakers. This time the eyeliner belongs to a girl – and it’s smudged because she’s been crying.