“Icky Thump,” the White Stripes first single off their new album of the same name (out June 19th) is clearly inspired by the ongoing immigration controversy in the United States. “Well Americans/What, nothin’ better to do?/Why don’t you kick yourself out?/You’re an immigrant too,” Jack seethes between guitar shrieks. It’s a ridiculously awesome song from an album we are extremely excited about, but we worried a bit about how they would pull off this video. As we see it, they could have fucked it up in two major ways:
1. By releasing a sanctimonious political platform-pushing clip. That would have been annoying.
2. By doing the opposite and releasing a piece of MTV-friendly eye candy that totally abandoned the song’s political undertones. That would have felt cowardly.
Fortunately, the video they actually made manages to deal with the political stuff without coming across as preachy, and retains a sense of dirty punk rock fun. Shots of Meg and Jack playing together (and looking remarkably like their 2001-era selves in all red) are cut with a larger narrative in which Jack travels down to Mexico and encounters Meg, decked out as a red-haired temptress. This story line builds on the song’s pimp/prostitute dichotomy: “Who’s usin’ who?/What should we do?/Well you can’t be a pimp/And a prostitute too.” The video ends with a damaged-looking Jack staggering past construction workers erecting “The Great Wall of Mexico.” It’s a simultaneously badass and earnest moment. Check it out.

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