Chainsaw Kittens ＂High In High School＂ — Chainsaw Kittens ＂High In High School＂

JUL 01 1992 · 12:00

Chainsaw Kittens ＂High In High School＂ — Chainsaw Kittens ＂High In High School＂ (1992) Director: Spike Jonze Era: Alternative Rock Breakthrough Era (1992) - Pre-grunge-mainstream Oklahoma indie rock scene; low-budget DIY video production on the cusp of MTV alternative programming expansion via 120 Minutes High curatorial value as a historically documented first: the solo directorial debut of Spike Jonze, one of the defining music video and film directors of the 1990s and 2000s. Simultaneously an artifact of the Chainsaw Kittens' peak creative period and a document of the early-90s Oklahoma alternative scene. The video's aesthetic rawness, low brightness, and melancholic tone form a coherent stylistic statement consistent with the underground indie rock milieu. Essential for any archive tracing the genealogy of alternative music video aesthetics or the career of Spike Jonze. Context: Released in 1992 on Mammoth Records as part of the High In High School EP and drawn from the album Flipped Out in Singapore, this video arrives at a pivotal pre-crossover moment in American alternative rock — months before Nirvana's Nevermind had fully restructured the mainstream, and when bands like Chainsaw Kittens represented a geographically and sonically diverse underground. The Norman, Oklahoma band, fronted by Tyson Meade, blended glam, punk, and post-punk sensibilities in ways that presaged but never quite reached mainstream visibility. The video's appointment of Spike Jonze — then a 22-year-old with roots in skateboard photography and youth culture publishing — as director represents the organic pipeline between skate/DIY media and emerging music video production culture that would define early-90s alternative MTV programming. Director notes: This 1992 video for Chainsaw Kittens is documented across multiple sources as Spike Jonze's solo directorial debut in music video. His entry into the medium that year also included co-directing Sonic Youth's '100%' with Tamra Davis. The video predates his breakthrough mainstream music video work with the Beastie Boys and Weezer by approximately two years. The low-budget, raw aesthetic of the production is consistent with Jonze's early DIY filmmaking background rooted in skateboard video culture. The Chainsaw Kittens were an Oklahoma-based alternative rock band on Mammoth Records whose 1992 album Flipped Out in Singapore provided the source track.