In the latest installment of The Dust Bin, we take a look at Ash’s music video for the song “A Life Less Ordinary,” featured in the movie of the same name by Danny Boyle.
Ash were a band out of Northern Ireland who were one part mid-90′s Brit Pop and one part Grunge, but there was definitely a punk vein running through Ash’s early sound, particularly on their 1996 debut album “1977.” But, there were also flashes of a more mature and melodic side on their debut, such as the track “Oh Yeah.”
Within a year Ash was on tour with Weezer and had recruited the lovely and talented Charlotte Hatherly as their new guitarist. Soon after, Danny Boyle—fresh off his success with “Trainspotting”—recruited Ash to write the title track to his new film “A Life Less Ordinary.”
The band responded with a propulsive and melodic tune that immediately struck me when I saw “A Life Less Ordinary” sometime after it was available on video. ”A Life Less Ordinary” wasn’t well-received by critics at the time, but that didn’t matter to me: it was a strange and surreal take on the romantic comedy by an up-and-coming director. Ash’s song blasts into the movie at a critical point, which I won’t ruin for those of you intend to see the film.
The music video for “A Life Less Ordinary” was directed by Hammer & Tongs, a director/producer duo famous for such music videos as Supergrass’ “Pumping on Your Stereo,” Blur’s fantastic “Coffee & TV” and Hot Chip’s “And I Was a Boy From School.” They letter went on to adapt Douglas Adams’ “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”
Hopefully the music video will introduce some readers to Boyle’s most underrated film and a rather underrated band as well.
