Psycho Tropical Ballet Pink out on Neurotic Yell
now, featuring guest performances from Laena Geronimo, John Frusciante, and
Brad Caulkins.
"There are Saharan desert blues licks that barely
snag onto the backbeat; smatterings of filtered-out percussion that could come
from the Caribbean in the distant future or from bombed-out East Berlin in the
'80s; and enough reverb to drown midsize animals." - LA Times
"ESG meets Rolling Thunder Revue-era
Dylan–minimalist punk-funk blown out with troubadour violins and face painted
flare" - RCRD LBL
Basing songs around cryptic shout-outs and jittery
backings styled around the Slits, were their dub reggae teachings replaced by a
schooling around New York’s original No Wave scene, Swahili Blonde almost make
a point of never settling into a holding pattern. - The Line Of Best Fit
Alternating between tightly-wound and loosely fluid, the Los
Angeles group Swahili Blonde tastefully mine the legacy of No Wave, Dub,
Krautrock, and Post-Punk creating a sound that is immediately playful and
fun, but also futuristic; revealing it's complexity and new layers upon
repeated listens. From the ashes of the rawkus now-defunct LA dub-punks WEAVE!,
Swahili Blonde was formed in 2009 when former WEAVE! drummer and vocalist,
Nicole Turley, started experimenting in her studio; creating unconventional
dubby art-rock arrangements while giving a recorded voice to paralleled
realities, vibrant visuals, and delightfully mismatched rhythms and patterns.
Since then, Swahili Blonde has become a reputed dynamic and engaging live
act, as an 8-piece band featuring members of The Like, Dante Vs Zombies,
Corridor, WEAVE!, and DEVO.
Swahili Blonde's new album Psycho Tropical Ballet Pink
is a trippier, more percussive counterpart to 2010's debut Man Meat, which
tapped into a scrappier punk spirit (a la Raincoats and The Slits). Their new
record contains loads of surprises: Caribbean influences, sideways grooves,
doo-wop vocal harmonies, and earworm-y instrumental interplay, while
flourishing with the use of orchestral horns and strings. On Psycho
Tropical Ballet Pink' s opener "Etoile De Mer", it's clear that
the band is exploring new directions with a track that takes the rhythmic pulse
of their previous work and submerges it underwater. "Zelda Has It"
takes things even deeper marrying angular funk with spooky atmospheres. Things
emerge from the visceral underwater seascape on their soaring
cover of A-Ha's "Scoundrel Days" before launching into "Purple
Ink" suggesting a Beefheart-ian approach to deconstructing the 99 Records
catalog, with its stop-starts, spiraling guitar melodies, and polyrhythmic
sense of timing. The album closes out with the driving synth dub instrumental
"Science Is Magick" and the spaced out "The Golden Corale"
where strings sweep over galloping percussion.
Accented by guest performances throughout the album from
Laena Geronimo (violin), Brad Caulkins (sax), and John Frusciante (guitar),
Psycho Tropical Ballet Pink consistently keeps the listener on their toes with
John Cale-esque violin shrieks, shimmering guitars, sitar, even Tijuana Brass
horns. While unpredictable, Turley's realized vision is unified by its homage
to Swahili Blonde's dub/punk/funk influences filtered thru today's
anything-goes post-global lens, and the result is a fascinating album
from one of the most interesting bands to emerge from Southern California in recent
memory.
UPCOMING SHOWS
Dec 1 San Francisco, CA @ Cafe Du Nord
Dec 3 Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg Theater
Dec 19 Costa Mesa, CA @ Detroit Bar
Jan 13 Santa Monica, CA @ Central
SWAHILI BLONDE
Psycho Tropical Ballet Pink
out November 15th on Neurotic Yell Records
swahiliblonde.bandcamp.com
neuroticyellrecords.bandcamp.com
soundcloud.com/neurotic-yell-records
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