Director Michael Maxxis is in top form for this music video for Black Hole Betty by Murder City Sparrows. Truth be told, the video makes this song rock a lot harder than it would if you were just listening to it on the radio.
The band performs in what looks like the perfect venue for industrial rock, as a sea of tattooed hipster chicks undulates below the stage. What Maxxis understands as well as anyone else is the importance of good b-roll footage. The b-roll in Black Hole Betty is terrific. The shaky-cam, Dutch-tilt shots establish an energetic rhythm that never lets up. The color scheme is very precise. Frontman Jay Sparrow's plain white tee really pops out against the green backgrounds, and the lighting effects occasionally wash out the frame. This video is so alive with color and movement that at one point I thought there was an earthquake going on.
The lyrics are a bit misogynistic ("Dirty little mother, go to hell!"), so I'm not sure what all these female fans are getting so hot and bothered about. But otherwise this is a perfect marriage of grungy sounds and even grungier sights.
