Eels - Novocaine For The Soul

What this video is

Released in mid-July 1996 as the debut single from Eels' first album Beautiful Freak on the newly launched DreamWorks Records, 'Novocaine For The Soul' arrived at the apex of MTV's alternative programming dominance. The video's surrealist wire-levitation conceit — indebted to the whimsy of Mary Poppins — contrasted sharply with the grunge-adjacent nihilism then receding from cultural dominance, instead locating…

Why it matters

A landmark of mid-90s alternative rock video craft, this clip helped define the 'cerebral indie concept video' subgenre — prioritizing directorial vision and surrealist concept over narrative literalism or performance spectacle. Romanek's involvement signaled DreamWorks' investment in prestige…

The director

Mark Romanek (b. September 18, 1959, Chicago, IL) is an American film and music video director. He graduated from Ithaca College's Roy H. Park School of Communications with a degree in cinema and photography. He directed his first music video in 1986 and…