Analysis of the Maccabees- 'About Your Dress'

"About Your Dress" is the fourth single by British indie band 'The Maccabees', and their second to make the UK top 40, peaking at number thirty-three - their highest charting single to date. The video for the song has become famous due to the fact that the band made it themselves with a home made set of miniatures and costumes, all shot with minimal cost.

The music video of the song is short- 2 minutes 22 seconds approximately, whereas most music videos are about 3-4 minutes long. The video itself is a 'left to right' transition from one stage of the band members' life to another, there are hardly any cuts involved in the video it just continues right until the end. The video ends in the same scene where it started, with Orlando Weeks, the lead vocalist and guitarist in the band receiving his jacket from his supposed mother.

The song is about going out with a young girl and despite all the mishaps that go on, for example, burning "your dress with my cigarette", it is just "what all young lovers do", so in other words, it is part and parcel of an adolescent life. So with that in mind, as well as the lyrics of the song, it does relate to the music video.

(photo shows one of the band members receiving help from their mother, some young females may find that 'sweet')

In terms of the audience, the music video is popular with young British females aged between 13-24, and this is obviously because of the meaning of the song, but also the nature of the band, to a certain extent. The band are reminiscent to that of the popular 1960s group 'The Beatles', due to the way in which they present themselves. Their 'mopped up hair' and neat dressing sense, as well as the scene in which Weeks is scene receiving a jacket from his mother (above), are all signs that would attract a feminine audience.

(light background contrasts to the background highlighted throughout the Babyshambles video- 'Killamangiro'.

In addition to this, the band also blend well with the colourful (although mostly white) background, which suggests that they are different to other indie groups such as 'the Libertine's and 'Babyshambles', who come across as unorganised, 'drunkards', who are also heavily influenced by illegal drugs. That, too, makes them a hit with teenage girls.

(unable to embed the video both on youtube and yahoo music station)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4xiP4gdTT4