Fluxblog Weekly #24: Electric Six, Neon Indian, Yacht, Deerhunter
Some good stuff this week. I didn't get around to writing about going to see Steely Dan, but I think I'm going to get around to writing something about them down the line. I also didn't really mention that I saw Electric Six a couple days before the Electric Six entry, but that's because I didn't have anything to say about that show other than that it was another fantastic Electric Six gig, and I love how everyone who goes to see them is as enthusiastic as possible. They have a small but extraordinarily passionate audience. Go see them play the next time they pass through your town.
Also, if you're really into newsletters, you should check out SWAK by my colleague Summer Anne Burton – you never really know what you're going to get week to week, but it's always very smart and sincere, and she has cool, varied tastes.
October 12th, 2015
A Voice I Must Obey
Electric Six “Two Dollar Two”
One of the best things about Dick Valentine is the obvious delight he gets from sicking like a fucking badass. There’s always several layers of irony in what Electric Six does, but as much as he’s mocking the fragile artifice of American masculinity, that hamminess is 100% real. I think that’s a lot of why I find this band so compelling – they really love what they do and embrace the inherent ridiculousness of ego and bluster. Even if it’s based in stupidity, there’s something admirable about creating an identity for yourself that’s based in swagger and pride. “Two Dollar Two” is a great showcase for the power of Valentine’s voice and his incredible commitment to the bit. Remember when Courtney Love sang “I fake it so real I am beyond fake?” That’s him now, though given his obsession with poking holes in a macho front, maybe he’s actually faking it to un-make it.
Buy it from Amazon.
October 13th, 2015
Feel A Certain Way
Neon Indian “Dear Skorpio Magazine”
“Dear Skorpio Magazine” is a crush song, and even if you couldn’t understand the lyrics you’d still probably pick up on that in the way the tempo goes staccato in the verses, like a heartbeat spiking with rising nerves. Alan Palomo’s arrangement and production style makes the song sound like it comes from an ‘80s in the future, which as it turns out is a pretty romantic vibe. The quality is mostly in the writing, though, and the way it moves you through these melodic moments like they’re a physical space, and you’re just some silly teenager wandering in a loop around a mall, just hoping to get another glimpse of the one you fancy so you can excitedly report to whoever will listen that you “made eyes!”
Buy it from Amazon.
October 14th, 2015
In The Gilded Morning
Yacht “I Wanna Fuck You Til I’m Dead”
The style of this song reminds me a lot of pop music from the late ‘90s and early ‘00s; it has a very particular type of gloss and punchiness to it that comes off as oddly aggressive. Back then, I think there was this general vibe in pop that the stakes were too high, and you had to beat people down with your hooks and the crispness of your beats. It was sink or swim. This Yacht song doesn’t have that subtext, but I think on some level it mines that perky intensity to really hammer home the deeply unsubtle message of this song, which is clear from the title. There’s a poetic quality to the words in the verses, but it’s all euphemisms and flirtation – this is just a proud expression of lust, and while it can be a little harsh on the ears, I really appreciate the boldness of this on every level.
Buy it from Amazon.
October 15th, 2015
I Could See A Lot Of Things
Deerhunter “All the Same”
Deerhunter’s Fading Frontier feels like coming out of a very dark part of your life and appreciating that the worst is over, but not quite knowing where that leaves you in the moment. You’re not all better, you’re still working on taking care of yourself, and peace isn’t the same as happiness. “All the Same” opens the record and sounds like the winter gradually shifting into spring; there’s something in the chords that implies brightness with a slight chill, and something in the rhythm that feels tentative and cautious. The lyrics are all about a shift in perspective, or a shift in expectations – realizing some things don’t matter to you anymore, observing change in other people, figuring out that your weaknesses can become strengths. The song is all liminal space, and it hinges on knowing that things are changing but having no idea where it’s all headed. A lot of Deerhunter’s music in the past has been about similarly passive states, but I think this time around, it’s a little more optimistic. Just not a lot more.
Buy it from Amazon.