The Wolfgang Press — A Girl Like You

JUL 01 1992 · 12:00

The Wolfgang Press — A Girl Like You (1992) Director: Peter Scammell Era: Post-Punk to Alternative Dance Crossover (1992) - British indie acts on 4AD pivot from goth/post-punk into funk-inflected dance-rock at the height of the early-90s alternative boom High. This is the defining promotional document for The Wolfgang Press's most commercially successful and culturally significant release, capturing the band at their genre-crossover peak. It is one of the few extant visual artefacts connecting the 4AD post-punk underground to the early-90s alternative dance mainstream, directed by Peter Scammell during his most active period working with 4AD-aligned acts. The quantitative profile — dark, warm-saturated, moderately paced — encodes the aesthetic tension between the band's gloomy origins and their newfound funkiness, making it a valuable document for both archival and analytical research. Context: Released in May 1992, 'A Girl Like You' was the breakout international single drawn from The Wolfgang Press's fourth album Queer (4AD, 1991). The single reached No. 2 on the Billboard US Modern Rock (Alternative Songs) chart in August 1992, representing the band's commercial peak after nearly a decade on 4AD. The group had evolved from dark post-punk origins — frequently (and reluctantly) labelled 'goth' — toward what 4AD's official profile called 'avant-dance groovers,' a transformation completed with Queer, which was inspired in part by De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising and Massive Attack's Blue Lines. The video's warm-toned, low-key theatrical aesthetic reflects both the label's art-house visual identity and the broader early-90s alternative dance crossover moment in British music, occupying a space between indie club culture and mainstream alternative radio. Director notes: Scammell's directorial credit for 'A Girl Like You' is documented on the Music Video Wiki (musicvideo.fandom.com). The video was produced for 4AD as a promotional clip for the single released on 18 May 1992 (catalogue number BAD 2006 / EAD2006S). The single reached No. 2 on the Billboard US Modern Rock chart on 15 August 1992. Scammell's broader filmography shows a consistent relationship with the 4AD/Beggars Banquet label ecosystem throughout this period, making this commission consistent with his established network. The production reflects the measured, performance-focused aesthetic typical of his contemporaneous 4AD-adjacent work.