AFI School of Rock

Explicit content warning

03/11/23 • 55 min

AFI’s “Medicate”, Silversun Pickups’ “Bloody Mary”, Blondie’s “Long Time”, Interpol, Bishop Briggs, Hole, White Lies, and more! What makes a rockstar look cool? In this episode we examine AFI’s Medicate and Silversun Pickups’ Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings) to see if we can discern to what extent its nature vs. nurture that gives musicians that X-factor rockstar coolness.

We also talk about Blondie’s Long Time, Interpol’s All The Rage Back Home, Bishop Briggs’ Baby (acoustic), Hole’s Violet, and White Lies’ Holy Ghost. We also mention the Pixies (we don’t specifically mention a video, but we had in mind Here Comes Your Man) and Chvrches (again, we don’t reference a specific video but The Mother We Share makes our point). We also briefly mention some other AFI videos, including: Miss Murder, Girl’s Not Grey, The Leaving Song Part II, Silver and Cold, and The Days of the Phoenix; we also mention Interpol’s Everything is Wrong and Silversun Pickups’ Substitution. Lastly, we give honorable mentions to The Bravery’s An Honest Mistake and Death Cab for Cutie’s I Will Follow You into the Dark.

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and email us your music video suggestions! Playlists for each episode are on our YouTube channel.

Music videos from the episode:
- Medicate (AFI)
- Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings) (Silversun Pickups)
- Long Time (Blondie)
- All The Rage Back Home (Interpol)
- Baby (acoustic) (Bishop Briggs)
- Violet (Hole)
- Holy Ghost (White Lies)
Honorable mentions:
- Other AFI videos mentioned:

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and email us your music video suggestions! Playlists for each episode are on our YouTube channel.

Music videos from the episode:
- Medicate (AFI)
- Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings) (Silversun Pickups)
- Long Time (Blondie)
- All The Rage Back Home (Interpol)
- Baby (acoustic) (Bishop Briggs)
- Violet (Hole)
- Holy Ghost (White Lies)
Honorable mentions:
- Other AFI videos mentioned:

Previous Episode

Introduction

Who are we and what are we doing here? We are Austin and Lisa and we think music videos are the highest form of art (duh!). We are non-experts but huge music video fans. We want to share our discussions of music videos and why we believe they are underappreciated forms of art. Each episode will discuss a few videos with a common theme. This introductory episode gives an overview of the genres of music videos we’ll tend to focus on (mostly alternative, indie rock, and pop) and a little taste of how future episodes will go. We hope you enjoy!

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and email us your music video suggestions! Playlists for each episode are on our YouTube channel.

Resources from the episode:

Academic article referenced:
- The Semiotics of Music Videos: It Must Be Written in the Stars by Heidi Peeters, May 2004
Theme music is by Not a Moment Too Soon

On Apple + Spotify + Google

Next Episode

War Fetish

Stromae’s “Fils de Joie“, Miike Snow’s “My Trigger” and “Genghis Khan“, and Perfume Genius’s “Describe“.

In this episode we take a look at the sexier side of the military industrial complex. Kind of. Drawing on themes from Dr. Strangelove, we look at music videos that reference the sexualization of war and conflict.

We start with Stromae’s new video Fils de Joie, which depicts a fictional dystopian society that gives a grand, military-style funeral for a sex worker. We also talk about two Miike Snow videos: My Trigger and Genghis Khan. These both feature the same two dancers, and both play with relationships within industrialized conflict in really fun ways (promise!). We then look at Perfume Genius’ Describe, which brings us into a post-apocalyptic world that is both orgiastic and quaint; we focus especially on a knife fight that is strangely sexal and beautiful (again, promise!). We also briefly mention Time is Running Out by Muse.

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and email us your music video suggestions! Playlists for each episode are on our YouTube channel.