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Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger’s Gainsbourg Homage

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On their new EP, La Carotte Bleue, the Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger’s Sean Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl indulge their Francophile jones – the swoony duo is heavily influenced by such icons of Gallic cool as Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin — by recording a couple tracks in French. The video for the EP’s sinisterly funky “Comic Strip,” premiering here, is also a Gainsbourg homage (and a Gainsbourg cover).

The original promo clip for the lissome 1968 classic featured the famed lothario singing to Brigitte Bardot, dressed for the occasion in a skin tight purple jumpsuit. In GOASTT’s video, filmed at the home of actress/Lennon family friend Carrie Fisher (“It’s like a tchotchke castle over there,” the twosome tells SPIN), the jumpsuit remains – this time adorning the comely figure of Kemp Muhl — but that’s about all.

The video, which shows Lennon transforming in a phone booth into a day-glo face-painted superhero, was filmed on the day before their bandmate, French singer-songwriter Matthieu Chedid, was headed back to Paris. They wanted him in the video (he’s the one in the Captain America get-up), so, explain the indie-poppers, “We quickly bought a bunch of super hero costumes… drag queen glitter boots, and a Flip camera on Hollywood Boulevard.”

The trio then proceeded to film themselves cavorting on the grounds of Fisher’s mansion, freaking out on the tennis court and play-fighting by the pool. It’s weird stuff, but makes sense given GOASTT’s favorite comic book character. Who’s that? Dr. Strange, naturally. Though, they add, “Wonder Woman is pretty hot.”

On the track, Lennon and Kemp Muhl even rap en Francais. That tongue-twisting polyglot feat proved easier than singing in the Americans’ non-native language. “We feel a lot more comfortable rapping” the twosome explained.

WATCH: The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, “Comic Strip”
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