My Vitriol - Grounded

2001

My Vitriol - Grounded (2001) Director: Jeff T. Thomas Era: Nu-Gaze / Post-Britpop Transitional Era (2001) - UK alternative rock at the crossroads of shoegaze revival and post-Britpop guitar music, coinciding with early-digital video production and a renewed NME-driven indie press cycle A high-value artefact within the early-2000s UK indie rock canon, this video documents the nu-gaze movement at its commercial peak. Its location shooting during the 2001 foot-and-mouth crisis, NME digital premiere, and DVD-first single release make it a multi-layered document of cultural, industrial, and aesthetic transitions in British music. The director's subsequent international career further elevates its archival significance as an early example of a notable director's formative work. Context: Released in April 2001 during a pivotal moment for UK alternative rock, 'Grounded' arrived as My Vitriol spearheaded what critics termed 'nu gaze', a shoegaze revival filtered through post-Britpop guitar dynamics. The video's rural location shooting, conducted during the UK's 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak, inadvertently embedded a document of national crisis into its visual fabric. Infectious Records' strategy of releasing the single simultaneously on 7", two CD formats, and DVD signalled the transitional media landscape of early-2000s music retail. The NME website premiere marked an early instance of digital-first video distribution in UK indie culture. Director notes: Directed for My Vitriol's fifth single 'Grounded' (released 2 April 2001, Infectious Records). The video premiered on NME's website and was shot on location in rural UK countryside during the 2001 foot-and-mouth disease crisis, lending it an authentically desolate pastoral atmosphere. The production was nominated for several music video awards. The single was also the band's first to be released on DVD format, underscoring the video's elevated production and promotional significance within the campaign for the debut album Finelines.