The Cure - Mint Car

What this video is

Released 17 June 1996 on Fiction/Polydor as the second single from Wild Mood Swings, 'Mint Car' appeared at a moment when The Cure were navigating a post-grunge, Britpop-dominated UK chart landscape. The song's unusually upbeat tone represented a commercial pivot from the band's gothic post-punk identity. Robert Smith himself noted the song failed to match the chart success of 'Friday I'm in Love' because the…

Why it matters

Significant as a document of a pioneering post-punk/goth act's mid-career stylistic recalibration toward mainstream pop-rock. The video exemplifies a mid-90s trend of high-concept, rapid-cut studio promos for alternative artists seeking chart crossover, and represents a rare departure from The…

The director

Richard Heslop (born 1961) is a British director of music videos and films. He graduated with a BA Honours in Film/Fine Art from St. Martins School of Art in 1984. Early career highlights include cinematographer work on Derek Jarman's The Last of England…