Synopsis
An animated short turns an ordinary drive into a surreal road-rage nightmare. A motorist navigates a strange, rubbery world of traffic, collisions, and increasingly bizarre interruptions as the line between driver and vehicle begins to dissolve. The escalating chaos culminates in the unsettling appearance of a koala emerging from the man's back, while other odd details, including an inflatable alligator, push the video into dreamlike absurdity. Its fast pace mirrors the track's scratched arguments and restless Sunday-drive groove.
Factoids & Trivia
- "Fender Bender" runs for only 1 minute and 50 seconds. Kid Koala has recalled that his mother taped its MTV world premiere, then called him immediately afterward to ask whether the creature emerging from the man's back was a koala.
- Its brief running time helped the video find an unusual broadcast life. Music networks reportedly used it as a bumper before commercials or as emergency filler, placing it at the end of programs ranging from cooking shows to hair-metal blocks.
- The song was inspired by real-life parking disputes, near misses, and traffic arguments outside Kid Koala's Montreal apartment. He built the track around a relaxed driving groove, then layered scratched fragments of an argument over it.
- The animation was made by Monkmus. According to Kid Koala, the production took about a year and a half after he supplied the track, two rolls of reference photographs taken in New Orleans, and some gum.
- The track appears on *Carpal Tunnel Syndrome*, Kid Koala's Ninja Tune debut, an album designed as a narrative-like collage of turntable performances, found sounds, humor, and comic-book sensibility.