The Afghan Whigs - Matamoros

What this video is

Released July 14, 2014, 'Matamoros' arrived as the second single from Do to the Beast, The Afghan Whigs' first album of entirely new material in 16 years, marking a high-profile reunion on Sub Pop. The video deliberately stages its performance within the NYC subway system — a contested cultural space in 2014, with Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration actively cracking down on subway performance crews. By centering…

Why it matters

The video exemplifies the mid-2010s trend of alt-rock acts bridging their legacy aesthetic with contemporary urban subcultures, using street-level, location-based documentary production to assert cultural authenticity. It also documents a specific and historically significant New York street…

The director

Philip Harder (born 1965) is an American music video and commercial director based in Minneapolis/New York. He began his career in the 1980s Minneapolis punk scene as a member of the band Breaking Circus before transitioning to directing. He ran the…