Art Brut - Direct Hit

JUN 18 2007 · 12:00

Art Brut - Direct Hit (2007) Era: Mid-2000s UK Indie Rock / Art Wave (2007) - Peak of the post-punk revival's second wave; South London guitar bands operating under major-indie hybrid deals, riding NME-fuelled Art Wave momentum alongside Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, and The Rakes. High documentary value as a representative artefact of the 2007 UK Art Wave promotional cycle. The video's unadorned performance aesthetic, high-tempo editing, and warm practical-light palette provide a reliable primary source for the visual grammar of the NME-aligned South London indie scene at its commercial peak. The song's concurrent placement in FIFA 08 adds cross-media cultural resonance. Recommended for inclusion in any archive of mid-2000s UK guitar-band music video production. Context: Released in June 2007 as the second single from Art Brut's second album It's a Bit Complicated, 'Direct Hit' arrived at the commercial apex of the NME-branded Art Wave movement, which grouped South London guitar bands including Art Brut, Franz Ferdinand, The Rakes, and Bloc Party. Art Brut occupied a self-aware, comedic position within this scene, with frontman Eddie Argos deploying a sprechgesang vocal style and humorous, self-reflexive lyrics that distanced the band from the earnestness of their peers. The single was notably licensed to EA Sports' FIFA 08, reflecting the era's growing intersection of indie music and gaming culture. The video's rapid-cut, high-motion performance aesthetic mirrors the band's live-circuit reputation and the broader DIY visual grammar of mid-budget UK indie promotion in the pre-YouTube-saturation era. Director notes: The video was posted to the web around late June 2007, contemporaneous with the single's release ahead of the album It's a Bit Complicated (19 June 2007). BrooklynVegan noted it on 28 June 2007 with the line 'Video of the year?'. The song was produced, engineered and mixed at Superswift, London Bridge. No production house or video commissioner credit has been located.