Synopsis

Set on the streets of Los Angeles, the video follows two skateboarders as they race through neighborhoods, trade tricks, and share the loose camaraderie of the city's skate scene. Their movement is intercut with Sonic Youth performing inside a crowded house party, creating a restless blend of street footage, live energy, and early-1990s alternative culture. The video's friendship-centered story carries an emotional shadow connected to the death of Joe Cole, while keeping its focus on youth, motion, and the bond between the skaters.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed in Los Angeles and combines performance footage from a house party with skateboard sequences shot from the middle of the action.

• The skateboarding footage features Jason Lee, who was then known primarily as a professional skateboarder and later became an actor, along with skaters including Guy Mariano.

• The video's story was influenced by the shooting death of Joe Cole, a friend of Sonic Youth and Henry Rollins. Rather than recreate the killing, it turns the subject into a story about friendship between two skateboarders.

• Kim Gordon plays a yellow Fender Precision Bass borrowed from actor Keanu Reeves for the video.

• The video premiered on MTV's alternative program "120 Minutes" on July 12, 1992.

• MTV later banned the clip because Gordon's bootleg Rolling Stones shirt displayed the phrase "Eat me," an episode often cited as an example of the network's inconsistent approach to sexual imagery and censorship.

• "100%" became Sonic Youth's highest-charting song on the US Alternative Airplay chart, reaching No. 4 in 1992.