I should probably start this all off by going on record stating that I’m not completely into this whole “slacker” aesthetic that Wavves, Best Coast, and all that have created… It might be quite naively attractive and nostalgically childish to pretend to do nothing all day except having very chilled-out sex and smoking weed, but it’s also a load of bollocks. They might have enough knock-off Ray Bans to try to constantly make it appear otherwise, but they’re very hard working musicians, and the net result of their hard work is basically that everybody thinks that it’s very cool to do not very much at all. Great. That’s a philosophy that would stun Aristotle. How far we’ve come in how ever many thousands of years.
So it should say a lot for the unbelievable quality of Total Slacker’s music that I am besotted by them. They’ve got far more than lazy power chords attached to a languid hipster; “Psychic Mesa” might be stretched out but the chorus’ melody nags at the brain in all the right ways, the verse’s vocals are perfectly timed, and the heel dragging chords that announce the song sound incredible shoved against a wall of clumsily ambling drums.
It’s starting to sound like people in the UK might actually hear how good they are, as well; after the Pitchfork-launched “Crystal Necklace” grabbed them a record deal with the Vaccines-launching Marshall Teller Records, their first LP “THRASHIN” will stumble into the public domain in September after a few shows in all the trendy places in London that buzz bands tend to play. On that evidence, it’s looking good for them.
Sure, it would be foolish to argue that Total Slacker don’t embody any of the characteristics that I may have shown my slight dislike for above, but this band are a cut above the rest. They’re destined to be lumped in with the worryingly termed ‘slacker movement’, but there are just so many things about their music which seem to be proof that they’re far more than another scene band.
I’m going to be honest. When I first heard “Friend Crush” by Brooklyn band Friends, I assumed that the lyric “I wanna’ be your friend” was just conveying the loneliness of our protagonist. However, if the sultry, brooding and deeply suggestive new video for “Friends Crush” is anything to go by, it seems like she’s after more than a friendly hug. I say ‘suggestive’, but the two female band members are practically kissing, which is probably less subtle than I make it sound. I’m aware that all male readers will now be watching the video below and not reading, which is cool. This will probably be our most popular post ever.
But if your eyes are still on these words because you’re more interested in the music, then you’re in luck, because the only reason we’re writing about this is because the first time we heard “Friend Crush”, our pulse gradually increased**, and we completely fell for their instantaneous Cults-esq harmonies laid over simplistic, dreamy tracks. Just like Warpaint, the whole thing is driven by an immensely powerful bass line, but the end result is more like Sleigh Bells at their least industrial and most intoxicating. It’s more addictive than heroin and a lot cheaper, too, so in these tough economic times, we recommend you go get some.
They’ve just been signed to Lucky Number, too, who brought us Darwin Deez, so Friends should be hooking many more fans in the coming months. The “I’m His Girl” single will be released in September, with an album pencilled in for early 2012.
Back in the confused days of 2010 I posted this, practically a love letter to Samuel & The Dragon, who I regarded as being certain to, at the very least, secure a position in the Cabinet for their adventurous, harrowing electronic pop. Today, in 2011 (in case you weren’t counting), I have been forced into a hasty and embarrassing verbal retreat that only Nick Clegg could match.
Who knows what happened, I’ve done enough hypothesising to know that it’s usually not very wise to get involved in that sort of thing; but I can maintain, and this is in no way a defence, that “Diamonds On A Boat” remains a piece of music that is amongst the most perfectly executed eccentric, left-field pop songs that I’ve come across.
I’m still hanging on for vindication, though, because Samuel has traded in his Dragon for bass producer and Hemlock Recordings founder Untold in a new project named Dreadnought. Without wanting to cause offense to the Dragon, Untold’s vessel-rupturing thuds that announce “By The Wire” are making it hard to get any more nostalgic. The menacing, languid vocals of Samuel Chase stake Dreadnought out as a dub-driven side project of The xx, or even an outlet for Thom Yorke’s dubstep obsession. If you think that sounds perfect on paper, wait until it’s in your ears.
It’s a logical progression; Samuel & The Dragon was always slightly leaning towards the influence of bassline and dubstep, and since we last heard from them dubstep has imploded in the UK, with major labels now searching for dubstep-pop crossovers – but it’s something that Samuel’s been doing for years. “By The Wire” just proves that he’s still doing it with more invention and character than his earnest contemporaries. Dreadnought’s incredible ‘Caroline EP’ is out now, exclusively on vinyl – and you can listen to the jaw-dropping title track below.
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