Sleater-Kinney, the punk trio who helped define the 1990s indie-rock aesthetic, will assume a mainstream '80s guise in their next video.

The clip for "You're No Rock 'n' Roll Fun," completed Monday, harks back to the early days of MTV, with the band lip-synching in a stark white room accented by neon.

"The whole idea of the video is making fun of the ultra-serious rock-star guy," singer/guitarist Corin Tucker, 27, said. "And in doing that, we're sort of playing with that role. We're making fun of ourselves as well, with being rock stars."

The song, from the upcoming All Hands on the Bad One (May 2), will be released as a 7-inch single on April 18. Kill Rock Stars Records spokesperson Maggie Vail said there is no word as to when and where the video will debut.

Brett Vapnek, the video's director, described the piece's vibe as one part Go-Go's "Vacation," one part M's "Pop Muzik" and a dash of Madonna's "Lucky Star."

The video's camp style jibes with the punchy, poppy lyrics, which sneer at groups that can't lighten up. "You're no rock 'n' roll fun/ Like a party that's over before it's begun," guitarist Carrie Brownstein sings. "You're no walk in the park/ More like a shot in the dark/ With clues left for no one."

"We're playing with a lot of different things in the video," Tucker said. "We're playing with attitude and ... the relationship between the singer and the audience."

The video stands in stark contrast to the Pacific Northwest group's only other clip, for "Get Up" (RealAudio excerpt), from last year's The Hot Rock. That black-and-white video featured a line of 30 young folks walking arm-in-arm through a field, as if they were searching for bodies.

Because "You're No Rock 'n' Roll Fun" is only their second video, Sleater-Kinney were able to have fun even while working with an old-hat concept, said Vapnek, 29, who's also directed clips for Helium's "Honeycomb" and Cat Power's "Nude as the News" (RealAudio excerpt).

"I don't know what it's like to work with Madonna, but I imagine it's a much more serious experience," she said. "We were all able to have fun because it was somewhat of a novelty to be doing it."