Dave Grohl Sends Soundgarden On Segways In 'By Crooked Steps' Video

Soundgarden have long been known for their thundering riffs and doomy dispositions, traits that don't lend themselves particularly well to making funny music videos.

So it's probably a good thing that, when it came time to shoot a clip for "By Crooked Steps," a standout track on their King Animal comeback, they turned to the ever-capable Dave Grohl, erstwhile Foo Fighters frontman, burgeoning documentary filmmaker and — more importantly — a dude not adverse to rocking drag for maximum comedic effect.

And, as you'd probably expect, "Crooked Steps" is a riot. It stars Soundgarden as a leather-clad Segway gang, who cruise the mean streets of Tarzana, California looking for trouble. They roll — or glide — up to a rough-and-tumble rock club (Paladino's, "the Valley [sic] Premiere Music Venue") where they discover a DJ thoroughly bumming everybody out. So they do what any self-respecting Segway gang would do: toss him and commence rocking.

Of course, this doesn't sit well with said DJ, who notifies the EDM police. They storm the scene, only to find that Soundgarden have disappeared ... though their cruisers eventually catch up with them, and a (relatively low) speed chase ensues. Sadly, the gang is finally caught, and, in a winking nod to Grohl's supposedly "anti-EDM" Grammy speech, it's none other than Officer Deadmau5 who slaps on the cuffs. Killer cameo, we've gotta say.

And though we could go on and on about how "By Crooked Steps" stands apart from basically every Soundgarden video based on its sheer comedic impact along (I mean, it's the funniest thing they've done, without question), we're going to praise it — and Grohl — for something else entirely: It actually manages to make Segways look cool. And that's a feat more difficult than making Soundgarden seem funny. Well done, all around.

What do you think of Soundgarden's new video? Let us know in the comments below.