MJ Lenderman shared a new music video today for his single “Wristwatch,” featured on his recently released project Manning Fireworks. Lance Bangs was the creative mind behind the video, using humor to tell a story with emotional impact. It’s a brilliant articulation of the themes of resistance and immobility that crunch and crackle through Lenderman’s songwriting.
Set against the backdrop of North Carolina, the music video showcases Lenderman and his band, the Wind, as they navigate a series of comedic misadventures while driving a pickup truck. The back of the truck is full of basketballs and rainbow-colored inflatable pool animals. It constantly gets stuck under a short overpass, capturing the fight featured in the tune.
Bangs, who had been an admirer of Lenderman’s work for a long time, described how vital the imagery depicted in “Wristwatch” was. He elaborated that the imagery of people trapped in persistence rather than growth is a common thread through all of his writing. He continued, “Wristwatch was the track that I went back and listened to the most after hearing the playback of the recordings. And his fondness for Lenderman’s artistry motivated him to return this idea to establish.
Like their majestic counterparts with the same name, the video’s low clearance bridges have a colorful and storied history. All of these bridges were originally constructed in North Carolina during the early to mid-20th century. Bangs asserted the double standard with authority. As I traveled across North Carolina three years ago for the Connect NC recommendation, we kept hitting these low clearance bridges that just do not mix well with the train trestles built in the early 1900s, as opposed to today’s standard of 13-foot height on most tractor trailers. Yet this observation serves to highlight the bittersweet, absurd challenges experienced by anyone who comes upon these crumbling relics.
Moving forward With Lenderman’s single “Wristwatch” as the thematic centerpiece, Wristwatch is an artistic statement of intent from Bangs. The director expressed his eagerness to collaborate with Lenderman, sharing, “I had been drawn to make things with Jake for a while, and spent the late summer listening to the songs that would make up Manning Fireworks.” This partnership resulted in a beautiful and powerful music video. It’s able to really engage and resonate with the audience by giving them those universal themes.