After having performed it live for a few years, Street Sweeper Social Club finally released their cover of M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” back in July. With the addition of some crunchy guitar from Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, the song took on a heavier sound more in tune with the lyrics. Now MTV has premiered the video, which restores some of the levity—literally and figuratively.
The fact that the band spends the entire video riding on a paper airplane seems a touch, um, literal. But the paper city they colorize shows more inspiration. Plus, Morello and MC Boots Riley hog the camera enough that their charisma carries it. Notice how Morello hits that high guitar note (the cash register noise in the original) by slamming his guitar above the fret board. Pretty cool. Now can they please release a video for “Mama Said Knock You Out”?
Edit: Apparently the embed below only works for U.S. users. Everyone else can watch it here.
Check out more Street Sweeper Social Club at their website or MySpace.
