Synopsis

Frank Black crosses a stark desert landscape in a rough futuristic vehicle, surrounded by imagery that suggests a post-apocalyptic version of Los Angeles. The video combines wide shots of the barren terrain with close-ups of Black performing and surreal, hard-edged scenes that mirror the song's science-fiction atmosphere. Its dusty, low-budget visual style evokes Mad Max and Blade Runner, presenting the city less as a real place than as an imagined future settlement somewhere beyond the present day.

Factoids & Trivia

• Released in 1993, "Los Angeles" was the debut solo single and opening track from Frank Black's self-titled solo album, which arrived on March 9, 1993.

• The video was filmed in the California desert. Its empty landscape and improvised-looking vehicle reinforce the song's futuristic, dystopian setting.

• Black described the song as a loosely science-fictional piece inspired by a Blade Runner-style vision of a future Los Angeles.

• "Los Angeles" was one of the two singles from the debut album that reached the top ten of Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart.

• The video later appeared on MTV's Beavis and Butt-Head, helping preserve it as one of the more recognizable visual documents from Black's first post-Pixies period.

• The song was subsequently used as the theme for VH1's short-lived talk show "Late World with Zach" and appeared in the video game "Tony Hawk's American Wasteland."