It is tough to squeeze humor out of TV on the Radio's music, but Funny or Die gives it a good run with the Danny Jelinek-directed "Happy Idiot."
Singer Tunde Adebimpe described the clip as a "full-on geekfest in the desert," and that is pretty spot-on considering Paul Reubens (Pee-Wee Herman) and Karen Gillan (Doctor Who) fill the primary acting slots.
Reubens and Gillan re-enact an amalgamation of Speed Racer and Vanishing Point, with Reubens as a driver with something to prove and Gillan as a distracting mirage in the desert heat.
As Rolling Stone put it, the band serves as a "calming force" throughout.
"I had this idea for the video that I thought would never happen, of Paul Reubens as a race car driver who slowly loses his mind," singer Tunde Adebimpe said in a statement. "I got to speak with him over the phone about doing it and, in between being blindingly nervous that I was actually talking to an actor who had shaped a lot of my worldview and trying not to freak him out by saying so, he mentioned that he's been a fan of the band for a while."
Check out the results:
The Brooklyn group's sixth studio album, Seeds, is due Nov. 18.
They unveiled the tracklist and released a set of fall tour dates in early September. Check those out here:
10/17: Santa Barbara, CA @ Santa Barbara Bowl
10/18: Big Sur, CA @ Henry Miller Library
10/19: San Francisco, CA @ Treasure Island Music Festival
10/22: Los Angeles, CA @ Regent
10/24: Joshua Tree, CA @ Pappy & Harriets
10/25: Las Vegas, NV @ Life is Beautiful Music Festival
11/12: Toronto, ON @ Phoenix
11/13: Montreal, QC @ Corona
11/14: Boston, MA @ Paradise
11/17: Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
11/18: New York, NY @ Apollo Theater
11/21-22: Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
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