Foster The People meets an untimely demise within the first few frames of “Houdini,” their new music video within a music video, fatally felled by some falling lighting rights.

But the show must go on — there’s still a video to complete and a concert scheduled for the next night — so a henchman with some technologically gifted associates arrives on set to take charge of a lifeless Mark Foster, Cubbie Fink, and Mark Pontius, orchestrating the trio’s movements from behind the scenes so no one’s the wiser. (Hello, Weekend At Bernie’s.)

The “Houdini” clip was directed by DANIELS, aka Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, the duo who also did “Helena Beat” and “Don’t Stop (Color On The Walls).” It’s a killer concept and well executed, but the best bits, hands down, are the choreographed dance moves. Because they’re so out of step for Foster The People, the scenes are a real treat, recalling the best of *NSYNC and nodding to the boy band’s “Bye Bye Bye” video, which also played with the puppetry theme.

“Houdini” has been remixed by The Green Children as part of a charity effort to benefit homeless kids. Details, including a free download, here.

And if you happened to have a pair of 3D glasses lying around (perhaps innocently lifted from a recent screening of Titanic), DANIELS invites you to check out the 3D version of the “Don’t Stop (Color On The Walls)” music video.

Purchase Foster The People – “Houdini” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.