The Shins - So Says I

What this video is

Released September 21, 2003 on Sub Pop Records as the lead single from The Shins' second album Chutes Too Narrow, 'So Says I' arrived during a pivotal moment for indie rock's mainstream crossover. The fully animated video — an unusual and budget-conscious choice for an indie single — used penguin allegory to literalize James Mercer's lyrical meditation on communist vs. capitalist ideology and the concept of utopia,…

Why it matters

A key artifact of the early-2000s Sub Pop indie rock renaissance, this video demonstrates how animation served as a viable and conceptually ambitious alternative to live-action production for indie artists with limited budgets. Plates Animation's work here — alongside their subsequent Arcade Fire…

The director

Plates Animation Inc. is an animation collective with credits in indie and alternative music video production. Members include Canadian independent animator Bryce Hallett, a Sheridan College classical animation graduate who has worked on music videos, TV…