Watch Muse’s ‘Halloween Special’ Cover of the Cramps’ ‘New Kind of Kick’
Happy Halloween, Muse fans! The band has delivered a treat that's also a pretty neat trick, posting a tongue-in-cheek video that finds them covering the Cramps' "New Kind of Kick."
You can watch the video, billed as the band's "Halloween Special," via the above embed — complete with frontman Matt Bellamy delivering his best pelvis-thrusting impression of Cramps frontperson Lux Interior. Helmed by the band's media manager Tom Kirk, the clip delivers the Muse/Cramps mashup we never knew we needed.
Originally released in 1981 as the B-side of their Psychedelic Jungle single "The Crusher," "New Kind of Kick" ultimately ended up on its first full-length when the Cramps put out their ...Off the Bone compilation in 1983, and resurfaced the following year on another best-of set, Bad Music for Bad People. The Jesus and Mary Chain later released a live cover of the track for the B-side of their "Come On" single in 1994.
Muse's embrace of the Cramps' rockabilly aesthetic follows Bellamy's assertion earlier this year that his group is "among the last of the rock bands" at a time when it's "increasingly difficult to say something new on the electric guitar."
"The term rock star is used very loosely these days. You could carry a laptop rather than a guitar," Bellamy told the Daily Telegraph. "I like to think the spirit of what rock represents will always be around. It is about people who feel contrary to the cultural norms of the time, and want to rebel against or question whatever system that they are living under."
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