Fruit Bats - Lives of Crime

What this video is

Released in July 2005 as the opening track of Fruit Bats' second Sub Pop album Spelled in Bones, 'Lives of Crime' arrives at a pivotal moment in the mid-2000s indie folk-rock boom. Fruit Bats, led by Eric D. Johnson, were central to Sub Pop's early 2000s diversification away from grunge into softer, pastoral sounds. The video's warm, naturalistic visual language mirrors the album's 'remarkably summery' character…

Why it matters

As the opening track and lead single of Spelled in Bones, 'Lives of Crime' is a defining artifact of Sub Pop's mid-2000s folk-rock identity. The song's structure — described by critics as seemingly 'melting every time it should come to a chorus' — exemplifies the era's taste for anti-climactic,…

The director

Ryan McNeill is a music video and commercial director originally from rural Oklahoma, based in Los Angeles, CA. His IMDB credits include directing the music videos Grum: Can't Shake This Feeling (2010) and Grum: Through the Night (2010), as well as G4…