the power of dumb disco in dark times
plus the week's five best new tracks from Objekt, Tove Lo, Wire, Gorillaz and Kibitzer
So yeah, it feels silly writing about music amidst half of the country having their rights to bodily autonomy taken away. This weekend especially felt bizarrely dissonant, with protests and Pride marches happening at the same time all over the city - a celebration of how far we’ve come alongside anger at how far we might go back.
In light of that: let me tell you about my favorite dumb disco song.
I found this song in 2005 on Annie’s DJ-Kicks, and it was an immediate party favorite for me and my friends and bandmates: it was infectious, but also when then song’s sped-up fake bumblebee vocals dropped mid-song (“I’m a perfect 36, 37, 36!”), the look of surprise on the faces of the uninitiated was always a delight. This became a go-to party and mixtape song, and it was my first foray into loving disco.
At the time, I knew I loved the new hyperactive dance-friendly punk and rock music coming out - from the Franz Ferdinands to the Black Eyes, I bought my white belt and hit the town. But I really didn’t know anything about dance music, let alone actual disco - and that changed with this absurd disco song, which suddenly made a whole world of sleek, goofy pleasure accessible.
The song was disarmingly simple and seemingly a novelty, but it hid a sophisticated arrangement and grounded rhythm section. This, as I’d find out, was the genius of Patrick Adams: layering silliness on top of sophistication on top of dumb on top of smart. It was simple, silly, and the song was my gateway to the worlds of Larry Levan, John Morales, Cerrone, Metro Area, and more - it’s not an overstatement to say “Lady Bug” changed my life. RIP.
No Good Links this week, other than Jia Tolentino’s essential read on what our post-Roe world might look like.
And now, on to this week’s tracks - as always, you can follow along on our playlist on Spotify and Apple Music, which update every Tuesday along with the newsletter.
UNSKIPPABLES #42
Objekt - Bad Apples
Calling this record a “slow banger,” “Bad Apples” seizes a fast-but-slow pocket with a snakelike bassline that fractures into squirming arpeggiators at the 3:30 mark. “Ballast” sounds like a reggaeton pocket turned on its side as well, but it’s “Bad Apples” strut that earns its place on the A-side.
Dungen - Nattens Sista Strimma Ljus
Dungen is back with a surprisingly funky and agile banger, the lead single from their upcoming album En Är För Mycket och Tusen Aldrig Nog (“One Is Too Much And A Thousand is Never Enough”). If you know Dungen, there’s all the space laser guitar you’ve come to expect, but the syncopated drums take this from Swedish Hawkwind territory to something almost…swinging?
Gorillaz ft. Thundercat - Cracker Island
The closest I’ve heard to a “return to form” for Gorillaz to the Plastic Beach/Demon Dayz rubber funk they became internationally famous for - but it’s Thundercat’s croon in the chorus that’s the real delight, his best chorus since “Show You The Way.”
Tove Lo - True Romance
Tove Lo’s Dirt Femme is quickly becoming the album I’m most looking forward to this fall - following the delightfully dramatic “No One Dies From Love,” she’s shared a hypnotic, synthetic march with the album’s announcement. The song never boils over, with a sole vocal up the middle driving the song’s potent drama.
Vintage Crop - Double Slants
The 2nd album from Australian post-punkers Vintage Crop would feel right at home alongside the best and brightest of Parquet Courts or Idles, but “Double Slants” off their new LP Kibitzer is a perfect summer rock song thanks to the strong “leather jackets at the beach bonfire” vibes of their twin guitar attack.
THROWBACK CORNER
Phreek - “Much Too Much”
Had to close this one out with another Patrick Adams silly banger - Phreek’s 1979 track “Much Too Much.” It might have the perfect bassline, and the guitar comping tucked away on the sides is the type of casually nasty playing sprinkled throughout Adams’ discography. I dare you to put this on and not smile.
And that’s all for this week, folks! Please subscribe if you’d like these opinions straight in your inbox. See you next week!