Walton Goggins has been a fixture on the screens of discerning television viewers for years, but the actor was everywhere after his White Lotus breakout last year, which brought his formidable dramatic skills to a larger audience than ever. Goggins was so ubiquitous that Pete Davidson worried he was about to face backlash due to overexposure. But even if you're tired of the Walmart and GoDaddy ads he booked to capitalize on his newfound popularity, who's going to be upset about seeing Goggins in a new Strokes video?
The actor stars in the new clip for "Going Shopping," the lead single from the Strokes' forthcoming Reality Awaits, which was set to be out last Friday but will now drop on July 24. Goggins sits down alongside Julian Casablancas, lip-synching the singer's lyrics while various comic scenarios play out, a la Chevy Chase and Paul Simon in Simon's classic "You Can Call Me Al" video from 1986. Goggins and Casablancas recreate Chase and Simon's choreography, and there's a conga scene and everything. A press release confirms it's an intentional homage. The Strokes reached out to Goggins, who was shooting on location in the Canary Islands but game to participate, so the band traveled to Tenerife to film the video with him in late May.
In the video, directed by Johann Rashid, Goggins and Casablancas dance with clowns, open newly purchased merchandise, and take turns chugging what appears to be antifreeze (or maybe wiper fluid). The other Strokes make appearances in costume, but notably not Nick Valensi, who has been on an unexplained hiatus from the band for the past month and a half. There's also a plot line about the plight of striking workers. A lot going on here.
On Instagram, Goggins writes:
THE STROKES!!! Video for the first release off their new Album. GOING SHOPPING!! Never had the audacity to put something like this on my bucket list… I’ve been listening to REALITY AWAITS since March..It’s so gatdamn special y’all. Thank you fellas… Jules, Fab, Albert, Nikolai and Johann for this invitation. Days I will never forget! New Friends. Can’t wait to see you on the road gents! I’ll be singing my ass off in whatever seat I can get.
Watch below.
Reality Awaits is out 7/24 on Cult/RCA.
