I didn’t expect to laugh this hard at the Waterboys’ new single. Scottish musician Mike Scott’s long-running big-rock project has always had a certain level of theatricality to it, but I don’t associate it with outright silliness. That’s what we’re getting with this new song. Earlier this week, the Waterboys announced plans to release Life, Death And Dennis Hopper, a new concept album about the late New Hollywood icon of the title. But the announcement didn’t say that Mike Scott was doing a damn Dennis Hopper impression on record.

Life, Death And Dennis Hopper will feature appearances from luminaries like Bruce Springsteen, Fiona Apple, and Steve Earle. That’s exciting, but it’s the kind of thing you might expect from a dignified legacy-rock project. Judging by lead single “Hopper’s On Top,” however, Mike Scott is not interested in dignity. Instead, he’s interested in doing his best Dennis Hopper voice over a pounding rock beat, saying the kind of far-out shit that Hopper would’ve said: “We’re troubleshootin’ a new kind of human, man! That’s right! I am the prototype! And you’re my prototype woman, man!”

Mike Scott co-produced Life, Death And Dennis Hopper with his Waterboys bandmates Famous James and Brother Paul. “Hopper’s On Top” is a big, pounding rocker, and I’m guessing it represents the post-Easy Rider part of Hopper’s career where he was getting Hollywood executives to greenlight his most acid-fried ideas. The video has lots of goofy psychedelic effects, and it’s also got the Waterboys strutting around city streets in sunglasses and cowboy hats. I was already interested in this album, but now I’m excited. Check it out below.

Life, Death And Dennis Hopper is out 4/4 via Sun Records.