Yo La Tengo - ＂Sugarcube＂ (Director's Cut)

What this video is

Released in 1997 at the apex of the mid-90s indie rock and alternative comedy crossover, 'Sugarcube' encapsulates a specific cultural moment when Matador Records artists and HBO alternative comedians occupied overlapping subcultural spaces. The video satirizes the rock industry mythology of rebellion and excess through a deadpan academic framing device, reflecting the era's slacker-generation irony and self-aware…

Why it matters

A canonical artifact of 1990s noise pop and slacker rock, 'Sugarcube' by Yo La Tengo sits at the intersection of Matador Records-era indie rock and alternative comedy. Its music video is genre-significant as a rare example of comedian-authored music video narrative predating the School of Rock…

The director

Phil Morrison (b. 1968, Winston-Salem, NC) is an American director whose NYU student film 'Tater Tomater' screened at Sundance and was acquired by MoMA. After 'Sugarcube,' he directed the Upright Citizens Brigade TV series (1998–2000). His debut feature…