Beastie Boys Release Spike Jonze-Directed Video for New Single

Revisiting the collaboration that resulted in the video for “Sabotage” in 1994, the Beastie Boys recently teamed with Spike Jonze again for “Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win,” a track featuring Santigold from their album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two; the song will be released as a single on August 15. Jonze, the director behind the quintessentially quirky film Being John Malkovich and the more kid-friendly Where the Wild Things Are, essentially creates a short film featuring the Beastie Boys as action figures.

Two versions of the video are available. The full 11-minute version premiered on the Beastie Boys’ website today, while a television- or attention span-friendly version first appeared on Funny or Die and is now available on YouTube. Jonze’s 11-minute short film depicts a Team America: World Police-like world, only more cheapened with visible guide wires and hands to move the action figures and frozen facial expressions. Attacked by anti-Beastie Boys militia at a concert, the group, along with Santigold, fight amongst snowy mountains, encounter a Yeti, deal with zombies, and end up in a third conflict under water.

While last night was the first time a clip for “Don’t Play No Game” hit the web, the video premiered in New York City on July 13. At the premiere, Jonze told the New York Observer about the process for coming up with the video: “We went to a warehouse and just messed around for a while.”

Adam “MCA” Yauch, who wrote the video, told the newspaper: “It’s like that fantasy you have as a kid, about action figures. And I’m basically still a twelve year old at heart.”

Considered one of the best albums of 2011 so far, Hot Sauce Committee Part Two is a follow-up to the group’s 2004 release To the Five Boroughs and supersedes Part 1, which was supposed to be released in September 2009. At the time, however, Yauch was diagnosed with cancer, and with the release date pushed back multiple times, Part 1 has been delayed indefinitely. Between To the Five Boroughs and Hot Sauce, they released an all-instrumental album, titled The Mix-Up.

Watch both the four- and 11-minute versions of “Don’t Play No Game That I can’t Win” here: