Blogger in a chip shop.

For those not following the drama associated with the Matches' "Yankee In A Chip Shop" music video, the band were all set to debut it on the front page of MySpace(!) this past Friday for an entire week, which would've been absolutely huge for a band of their size (it doesn't hurt that the song's a brilliant, two-minute piece of pop magic). The morning of the scheduled debut, however, the band ran into some serious roadblocks involving the London police that, honestly, have yet to be fully explained (something to do with the music video containing footage of the band "violating British law"; you can read Shawn Harris' note about the flap here). The clip has been in limbo since Friday (although it somehow managed to air on an Australian music-video program called Rage), which has caused the band's fans to cause an uproar). And even though the band themselves currently have their hands tied with the official release of the video, leave it to the fans themselves to embrace "Commotion Promotion," a technique the Matches themselves invented to promote their band: Do whatever it takes to make a scene and get your name out there.

With that, I present to you the "Yankee In A Chip Shop" music video. I don't know how this particular fan got their hands on it, nor do I know how long it will last on YouTube, but you owe it to yourself to check out a music video that actually is artistically creative and clever, as well as being an excellent visual to an already stellar song:



(If the video stops working, check out this stream on an Australian site.)

If you like the song (And I really don't see how you can't), please consider spending your money on purchasing a copy of A Band In Hope, the album which the track comes from. I wasn't in love with this album when I first heard it, but between this song, "AM Tilts," "Wake The Sun," "Their City" and "Point Me Toward The Morning," it's the textbook definition of a "grower."