Videodrone #24: Sexx Laws

Videodrone is a weekly(ish) feature looking at music videos from the last half century. 

Sexx Laws (1999)

There was a lot going on in 1999. We were on the cusp of the new millennium and there was plenty of hype around the Y2K bug, which had everyone convinced all computer systems would go haywire once the clocks hit midnight on New Year's Eve. Needless to say, nothing happened.

Musically, it was an interesting year. The emergence of Napster on college campuses introduced the world to downloading and MP3s, which would lead to a seismic shift in the music industry. 

Alternative rock was still a thing, but it was nu metal and hip hop that got more attention from music fans: Limp Bizkit, Korn, Eminem, Dr. Dre and Kid Rock were leading the charge. In the middle of all that, the mercurial Beck was in the midst of a terrific run of albums. The previous year saw the release of the subdued but excellent Mutations, but Beck went in a completely different direction with 1999's Midnite Vultures. This time around, he leaned into funk and dance music with strong results. While it didn't reach the heights of Odelay, Midnite Vultures was a lot of fun, highlighted by lead single "Sexx Laws."

The song is an uptempo, horn-driven funk romp about gender roles, which the out-there video pokes fun at. Directed by Beck, it begins with a men's group called the Vision Warrior Men's Circle. The group's members include a young Jack Black, author Neil Strauss and Beck's bandleader Justin Meldal-Johnsen. After a group hug, a bunch of football players in day-glo uniforms crash through the walls and mayhem ensues, including Black getting smashed over the head with a bunch of drywall. 

Cut to Beck and his band playing the song, albeit with fake instruments (Meldal-Johnsen's playing a broom), alongside a zebra mannequin playing a banjo. Told you it was out there. Kitchen appliances come to life, much to the dismay of the men's group members, with a refrigerator humping an oven, and then a shot of Kenny G (played by Meldal-Johnsen) playing the sax in the background of the mayhem.  

There were a few different versions of the video, including an 18-minute version with extended scenes of the men's group (see a 13-minute version below). Beck also filmed a 6-minute video of "Kenny G" playing a smooth jazz version of the song; a session sax player handled the Kenny G part while Beck's band played the rest.

Midnite Vultures wasn't a smash like Mellow Gold and Odelay, but it still was certified gold. Beck followed it up in 2002 with the acoustic and melancholy Sea Change, another excellent album. That Beck likes to keep people on their toes. I've been less enamored with his output the last 15 years or so, but Beck's '90s and '00s work is undeniably strong.