King Tuff - Bad Thing

What this video is

Released May 29, 2012, 'Bad Thing' was King Tuff's (Kyle Thomas's) first-ever official music video, launched simultaneously with his self-titled Sub Pop debut. The video arrived during a peak moment of garage-rock and glam-punk revivalism, a scene encompassing acts like Ty Segall, Nobunny, and the Burger Records ecosystem. The album was produced by Bobby Harlow in Detroit and showed Thomas's deep affection for…

Why it matters

Represents the early-2010s garage/glam rock underground at its most distilled: raw, fast, warm-toned, and deliberately anti-polished. As King Tuff's debut video, it established the visual grammar for an artist whose music drew heavily from T. Rex, Rolling Stones, and lo-fi power pop traditions.…

The director

Canadian-American multidisciplinary artist, photographer, director, and designer born Michael 'Cali' DeWitt in 1973 in Sidney, British Columbia; relocated to Los Angeles at age three. Rooted in LA punk and hardcore underground. Co-founded punk record label…