Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Rembrance of Videos Past #38: L7, "Pretend That We're Dead"

Don't ask me why, but all I imagine when I see this video is Janeane Garofalo nodding in sympathy.

Too feminine for Middle American grunge fans, too heavy for the college crowd, L7 had a very small following. Most people probably remember Beavis and Butthead making fun of them.

But they also mocked Flaming Lips and Ween. Their whole schtick was making fart jokes and ripping (get it?) on good bands.

The only thing better than the monster riff is the fashion. In the early '90s, every girl wore a stocking cap. When my girlfriend wore one on Saturday, it took me back to the halcyon days of grunge. Of course there's plenty of flannel in this video as well.

But even a deaf crack baby can tell you that music videos are nothing without great music. Despite the fact that all these postgrunge jackholes like Nickelback are ripping off Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam, the female grunge canon is left unscathed. Never thought I would see the day when I say that L7 has aged better than Pearl Jam. What a funny, unpretentious chorus ("When we pretend that we're dead/They can't hear a word we've said").

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like the '90s was full of hard rockin' women. Nowadays we live in the age of the hipster chanteuse (Regina Spektor, Joanna Newsom). Nico is patting her own back in the grave while Janeane Garofalo is watching the blurry black and white footage in this video and tapping her Chuck Taylors.




BONUS: Easily the best song off of "Nevermind." Happy birthday, Kurt.

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