Space Dust’s cover of the Lee and Nancy classic was on the soundtrack of “Snakeskin” bad-trip roadtrip Melanie Lynskey film. It takes the original and roughs it up a little, emphasising the psychedelic sound over the sexual (and gender) tension of the original.
The video uses a lot of clips from the film, but we also see the Christchuch-ish band playing the song in a smoky bar. The films clips are edited to match the tone of the song. It starts with scenes of the “Wheee! Roadtrip!” beginning, slowly moving to drug-fuelled weirdness and Oliver Driver’s menacing skinhead.
I think there’s too much of the film, like video is there purely to sell the movie, with the song just a footnote. That’s not right. A good movie tie-in video should work with both the song and the film.
But the big question is – does the video make me want to see the film? Well, it starts off doing a convincing job, but by the end Melanie Lynskey is alone with a gun in a dark abbatoir and it’s all looking a bit grim. (But watching a clip from the film does refresh my interest in it.)
The bar scenes with Space Dust fit in with the aesthetic of the film, but I can’t help feel that I’d rather see more of the band and less of the movie.
Bonus: Future mayor of Christchurch Bob Parker makes a cameo appearance as a dancing bar patron at 2:09. (Thanks to Philip Matthews for pointing this out!)
Best bit: Violet Space Dust’s horizontal hair.
Next… survival of the fittest.
The SpaceDust on film includes Scott Kelly, non band member and Snakeskin crew member,filling in for Bass Player John Chrisstoffels, who couldn’t make it to the shoot. This was the only time Rock Hardman ever recorded with Space Dust.