The Connells - Slackjawed

What this video is

Released in 1993 as the lead single from The Connells' fifth album Ring (TVT Records), 'Slackjawed' arrived at a moment when American college radio alternative was at peak cultural visibility, with Nirvana's post-Nevermind aftershocks still reverberating. The Connells — a Raleigh, NC band formed in 1984 — occupied a distinctly Southern, melodic-jangly corner of the alt-rock spectrum, drawing comparisons to R.E.M.…

Why it matters

Represents the college radio guitar-pop tradition of the American South in the early 1990s — a melodic, introspective strain of alternative rock distinct from grunge. The video's stripped-back B&W performance aesthetic is a defining visual grammar of the era, situating the song's emotional…

The director

Peyton Tucker Reed (b. July 3, 1964, Raleigh, NC) attended UNC Chapel Hill, graduating 1987 with a degree in English and Radio, Television & Motion Pictures. He was a DJ at WXYC student radio. His early career included directing music videos for…