alt-J - “Left Hand Free” (Official Video)

British trio alt-J are about to return with their much-awaited sophomore album This Is All Yours, and the first video from the album, the Nabil-directed “Hunger Of The Pine” clip, was a bleakly allegorical work of expressionism. Their second video, for the bluesy “Left Hand Free,” isn’t as immediate or powerful, but it is a whole hell of a lot more fun. The band has spoken about how the song was recorded half as a joke and half to appease the band’s American label; it’s a doofy pileup of Americana cliches. And the video, from director Ryan Staake, shows attractive American teenagers doing stereotypical summertime heartland things: acrobatically leaping into swimming holes, shooting fireworks from the beds of pickup trucks, rolling four-wheelers. But even if the motivations behind the video are cynical, it’s a beautifully shot and entertaining piece of film, and that alone puts it above a lot of the stuff coming out lately.