Black Box Revelation - High On A Wire

JUL 01 2010 · 12:00

Black Box Revelation - High On A Wire (2010) Director: Joris Rabijns Era: Post-Millennial Garage Rock Revival (2009–2010) - Belgian indie garage rock emerging during the second wave of the garage/blues-rock revival, coinciding with the international breakthrough of stripped-down two-piece rock acts. A strong archival document of the European garage rock revival's visual identity circa 2009–2010. Joris Rabijns's direction, combining Paris street footage with performance, creates a time-capsule of the era's indie authenticity aesthetic. The zero-saturation monochrome treatment and documentary grammar make this a formally coherent and culturally legible artifact of its moment, with added historical weight from the band's subsequent US breakthrough. Context: Released as a single from Black Box Revelation's second album Silver Threats (February 2010), 'High On A Wire' arrived during a fertile period for European garage rock acts gaining transatlantic traction. The Belgian duo, formed in Dilbeek in 2005, positioned themselves within a lineage of minimalist two-piece rock, and this video's black-and-white Paris street aesthetic situates them alongside a broader European indie rock visual grammar of the era. The song later gained significant US exposure through placement in MTV's Teen Wolf (Season 2) and a 2012 performance on The Late Show with David Letterman, marking the band's North American mainstream breakthrough. Director notes: Directed by Joris Rabijns. Filmed in France and Belgium, the video combines street scenes with live performance footage. Cinematography by Brecht Goyvaerts and Hans Buyse, Goyvaerts is a noted collaborator with Rabijns, having shot his wider music video showreel work. The zero-saturation grade, low brightness, and rapid 1.6s average shot length reflect a conscious aesthetic strategy aligning the visual language with the band's raw, stripped-back garage rock identity. The Paris street location shooting adds a transient, on-the-road energy consistent with the duo's touring profile during the Silver Threats promotional cycle (2009–2010).