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120 REASONS TO LIVE

120 Reasons To Live: Luna

Nothing did more to further the cause of Alternative Nation-building than 120 Minutes, MTV’s Sunday-night video showcase of non-mainstream acts. For nearly two decades, the program spanned musical eras from ’80s college rock to ’00s indie, with grunge, Britpop, punk, industrial, electronica and more in between. MAGNET raids the vaults to resurrect our 120 favorite and unjustly forgotten videos from the show’s classic era.

#70: Luna “Slash Your Tires”

If Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang weren’t such polite, mild-mannered individuals (as opposed to the Sid and Nancy types depicted in the video for “Slash Your Tires”), we might think this video is frontman Dean Wareham’s revenge on his former Galaxie 500 bandmates. The car in the clip, after all, is a Galaxie 500, though it’s unclear who or what is represented by the stuffed pig. Maybe money, maybe Wareham himself. Whatever the case—and you should really read Wareham’s memoir, Black Postcards, to get more insight—Luna was all about leaving Galaxie 500 in the dust. 1992 debut Lunapark made the separation quite well, if only in terms of better production and an overall cleaner sound. Sure, nothing can beat the charm or originality of Galaxie 500’s murky, lo-fi output … except maybe a video that actually gets played on MTV. Also, this early period was marked by the band having to refer to itself as Luna² on album sleeves due to conflict with a new-age artist already performing under the name Luna.

Want more of Damon, Dean and Naomi? You’re in the right place. Check out a Q&A with Wareham, a Galaxie 500 Over/Under, Damon & Naomi’s mix tape and a Q&A with Dean & Britta.