When Indie Icons Meet Hollywood: Walton Goggins Joins The Strokes for Iconic Visual
Indie rock legends are known for their cool indifference, but sometimes they embrace a little chaos. That’s exactly what happened when actor Walton Goggins teamed up with the band The Strokes to create a music video for their new track, ‘Going Shopping’. This collaboration isn’t just about making a catchy tune; it’s a playful homage to musical history, drawing inspiration directly from the iconic 1986 music video for Paul Simon’s hit, ‘You Can Call Me Al’.
The resulting visual treat perfectly blends retro charm with modern star power. Both the Strokes’ video and the Paul Simon original feature a similar scene: musicians walking into a room with an actor, exchanging a handshake before settling in to passionately mouth along to the music. It’s a simple, charming moment that grounds the high-energy rock sound in a relaxed, cinematic setting.
Goggins, famous for his intense and memorable roles in series like The White Lotus, films such as Fallout, and television dramas like The Righteous Gemstones, brought a unique energy to the project. He shared his delight over participating in the video, noting that putting this concept on his bucket list was audacious.
“THE FUCKING STROKES!!! Video for the first release off their new album, ‘GOING SHOPPING’,” Goggins expressed on Instagram. He added that he had been listening to the new material and felt it was “so gatdamn special.”
The video serves as the lead single from The Strokes‘ highly anticipated follow-up album, ‘Reality Awaits’. This album was long awaited, building on the buzz created by their previous work like ‘The New Abnormal’.
While the single was released in April, The Strokes and Julian Casablancas have just unveiled this striking visual. Even as the music lives on, the band remains busy planning their massive upcoming world tour across the UK, North America, Europe, and Japan.
The context surrounding the album’s release involved some strategic delays. ‘Reality Awaits’ was originally slated for June 26th, but the group announced a pushback to July 24th to align with the vinyl release schedule. This delay allowed the team to ensure everything was perfectly timed.
The album itself has received high praise, with Albert Hammond Jr. calling ‘Reality Awaits’ his “favourite album” ever made by The Strokes. Despite the song’s slightly understated feel—NME described ‘Going Shopping’ as a track that “doesn’t feel bold” but skillfully avoids playing anything safe—it manages to capture a palpable sense of connection.
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Credit: NME
