Mixtape 318 • So Much Better
Nothing can prepare you for the way Dean Johnson peers deep inside you.
Nothing can prepare you for the way Dean Johnson peers deep inside you.
The tang of fall is in the air, though the days are dressed for summer. I missed Frankie and the Witch Fingers when they were in town a couple of months ago due to work travel, and I was supremely bummed, as their particular take on electropunk is right in my wheelhouse. Tonight’s selection is a weird little experimental number from their latest release, which I highly recommend.
The aleatory nature of playlist selection for The Lacking Organization means all-instrumental sets are rare, so having two in one show definitely merits a mention in the show notes. Tonight’s highlight is Mac DeMarco, whose new album provides the perfect soundtrack for this particularly floaty stage of summer.
Hailing from the southwest of France, The Llamps build on a sound that's equal parts New York City grit, San Francisco psychedelia, and spaghetti Western twang, which makes for a pan-global main dish.
There are several sounds that are most definitely British, and with their clear soaring female vocals and intimate indie pop sensibility, The Catenary Wires are a textbook example of one of them.
If you are of a certain age and exposure to the MTV, you would think that people in Tijuana eat barbecued iguana, but that was just Stan Ridgway and Wall of Voodoo reaching for a cheap rhyme. Polvo takes the song's nervous energy and turns it up a few notches.
Sneer at the formula all you like, but putting a strong, dynamic female voice, one which ranges from a husky whisper to an anguished scream, in front of a well-produced guitar-centric combo can sometimes yield unexpectedly unique results.
I think Lemmy would have appreciated Canadian superbanjoplayer Lisa LeBlanc's fierce take on "Ace Of Spades".
Cleary, this is something that needs a song to explain, and Mo Kenney is up to the task.
Guitars, synths, great production, and pop hooks a-plenty.