Watch the Fast And Furious Video for Mogwai’s “Crossing the Road Material”

One part music video, one part documentary

Watch the Fast And Furious Video for Mogwai’s “Crossing the Road Material”

Mogwai, known for post-rock swells of M83 caliber, formed over two decades ago in Glasgow and have since released all kinds of illuminating, thought-provoking compilations. Earlier this year, the band released Every Country’s Sun, which we called “something of an epic.” As Lee Zimmerman elaborated in our review, the album’s impact is “a credit to veteran producer David Fridmann’s ability to gently shift tones and textures while allowing them to coalesce lucidly. These may not be songs of the most hummable variety, but they do resonate.”

Such is the case with the track “Crossing the Road Material.” For the video, longtime Mogwai collaborator Antony Crook filmed a mini-documentary on the story of dirt-track driver Johnny Herchinger, who races a ’78 Chevy Camaro and crashes it. This is not NASCAR fanfare we’re seeing and hearing—this is the Accord Speedway in Accord, N.Y., in the Catskills. This is putting a human face on a hobby that you enjoy at your own peril or live through vicariously, at the mercy of the heart-wrenching builds of the song.

At the end of the video, post-crash and after leaving in an ambulance, Herchinger says, “No, not scared. It’s something I love to do and it was a wild ride.”As expected, Mogwai pack an emotional punch in what is an already-cathartic song ending.

Watch below, and read our review of 2014’s Rave Tapes here. Mogwai also made our 2016 list of the 50 best post-rock albums.

 
Join the discussion...