Tenacious D are back with their first original new song in five years. The comedic duo of Jack Black and Kyle Gass have unveiled the tune “Video Games,” a country-leaning ode to gaming.
“It’s about growing up and leaving childish things behind… But then realizing that video games are more than just mindless toys,” stated Tenacious D in a press release. “In fact, they can be a true expression of huge ideas that belong in the pantheon of great works of art!
The duo continued, “It’s about time someone defended the honor and integrity of this bold new horizon. Leave it to the greatest band in the world…Tenacious D!!!”
The banjo-powered song clocks in at just over a minute long, and is accompanied by an animated video from the creative team of Oney Plays, featuring co-directors Adam Paloian (SpongeBob SquarePants) and Chris “Oney” O’Neill (YouTube’s “Oney Plays”).
The clip depicts Black and Gass as various video-game characters. Unfortunately, Gass keeps meeting his demise throughout the video, including one scene that’s especially painful.
“I have only been to two concerts in my life, and they were both Tenacious D shows,” said O’Neill. “It’s a real honor to work with Jack and Kyle, although I do feel bad about shooting Kyle’s penis off via animation.”
Paloian added, “It was fun throwing Jack and Kyle’s characters into different video game worlds; we tried to make use of every shot by cramming in gags and references to classic games from our childhood.”
The new song comes in the midst of Tenacious D’s brief spring US tour, which wraps up with gigs tonight (May 11th) in New Orleans and Saturday (May 13th) in St. Augustine, Florida. The duo will then hit the road for a run of European festivals in June. Tickets to their upcoming shows are available here.
The Tenacious D tune also follows Jack Black’s solo single “Peaches.” The ballad from The Super Mario Bros. Movie recently cracked the Billboard Hot 100 after going viral on YouTube and other streaming services.
Watch the video for Tenacious D’s “Video Games” below, followed by our 2021 video interview with the band.
