J Mascis - Can’t Believe We're Here

What this video is

Released November 14, 2023, as the lead single for J Mascis' fifth solo album 'What Do We Do Now' (Sub Pop, February 2, 2024), the video reflects a mid-2020s trend of indie artists deploying crowdsourced, cameo-heavy DIY footage as promotional tools — a direct outgrowth of pandemic-era remote collaboration norms. The video's format mirrors the album's own community-oriented recording approach, with Mascis drawing…

Why it matters

The video is a significant artifact of 2020s indie rock visual culture, illustrating how Sub Pop-era artists adapted the 1990s lo-fi aesthetic ethos into a post-social-media vernacular. The crowdsourced compilation format democratizes the music video form while reinforcing artist-community bonds,…

The director

Adam Bale is a video editor operating under Ballad Pictures. He is credited as the editor of J Mascis' 'Can't Believe We're Here' official video per the Sub Pop Records official press release (subpop.com, November 2023). No further verifiable career…