La Roux channels Gang of Four, destroys a microwave in "Damaged Goods" video

One of the best tracks on tribute album The Problem of Leisure: A Celebration of Andy Gill and Gang of Four is La Roux‘s cover of “Damaged Goods.” Elly Jackson takes one of the quintessential Gang of Four tracks — the rhythm of Gill’s guitar riff became the sound of a wide swath of post punk — and transforms it into a La Roux song, while keeping the spirit of the original. That track is now being released as an EP featuring remixes by Wuh Oh and F.A.R. that will be out this Friday (11/26).

La Roux has also made a video for “Damaged Goods” that references another piece of Gang of Four iconography. In it, she attacks a microwave with a baseball bat, which is a tip of the hat to the band’s famous performances of “He’d Send in the Army.” In fact, the microwave in the video is the same one Gang of Four used on their final tours, and Elly is wearing Andy Gill’s favorite coat. “When Andy asked me to participate in the album, I was delighted,” Jackson says. “He was a huge inspiration musically and also a good friend, hilarious and kind, nothing like his granite-faced stage persona. It was an honour to work with him and then to be able to celebrate him with this project after his death. We all really felt his presence when we were filming the video.”

The “Damaged Goods” video premieres in this post and you can watch that, and listen to the Wuh Oh remix, below.

In other news: Gang of Four’s 77-81 box set is up for a Best Box Set Packaging Grammy, and Jon King may well be bashing microwaves again next year.