Synopsis

Spoon perform "Sister Jack" in a series of stark, unconventional locations, including an empty building and the weathered amusement grounds of Coney Island. Intercut with these performance shots is a mysterious man in a nun's habit, moving through the city while apparently escaping unseen pursuers. The video's deliberately literal use of the song's title gives the otherwise straightforward rock performance an absurd, slightly surreal edge. Its rough urban settings and deadpan humor complement the song's restless outsider perspective.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed over two days in Austin and New York. Locations reportedly included an abandoned Intel building in downtown Austin and the roller-coaster graveyard at Coney Island.

• The nun character is a deliberately literal visual response to the title "Sister Jack," while the band-performance footage keeps the clip from becoming a conventional narrative.

• Contemporary descriptions compared the video's energy and visual attitude to new wave and post-punk clips, particularly The Clash's "Rock the Casbah" and Elvis Costello's "Oliver's Army."

• "Sister Jack" appeared on Spoon's 2005 album "Gimme Fiction" and was also issued as a single containing the video alongside additional tracks.

• In a later oral history of "Gimme Fiction," Spoon members and Merge Records figures remembered the video fondly, with Laura Ballance calling it funny and a good way for viewers to feel they knew the band better.

• The video has remained one of Spoon's more memorable early-2000s clips, largely because of its intentionally low-key humor and the contrast between the band's serious performance and the absurdity of the fleeing nun.