Still trying to get caught up and out from under the slowly tipping pile of singles on top of that speaker stand, but that's what a vacation will get you. A day later and a 7 inch higher. Chris from the Square People sent in his latest single on the Memetic Society label. Chris is the sax, lead vocals and guitar on this one along with Criag Schenker on another Sax and Tommy Stangroom on drums. Wouldn't you know it these guys are also from the music hotbed that is Nashville, TN, and have dropped a single of jazz fusion pop across these two tracks. Not entirely out of place with a lot of the stuff I get exposed to from Electric Cowbell, this trio is mining the smartypants era of progressive jazz and the first track, "Im not lazy" is that kind of super heavy dual bleating sax and thumb slap bass. All done with that extensive kind of training that knowing these instruments inside and out, enduring all those recitals and boring as hell teachers to finally apply those idiosyncratic skills to a freakout like this. Changing tempo and melody like breathing, Tommy holding together a real booming room beat, while the other two go after near synth hyper bass, layered electronic sounding pitch shifted vocals. The saxes can be supporting these odd rhythms or completely out to destroy them. They've succeeded at forcing together a lot of weirdo jazz/funk elements with a kind of punk and that's about as close as I can get to any kind of categorization.
The B-Side keeps this theme of the Square People telling you what 'they're not' with "I'm not nervous" which features a truly out there analog synth heavy sound, going back to those early sounds that can't be mistaken for anything else...the best kind when synths weren't even able to sound anything like their organic counterparts. Maybe that's why this flute melody is sounding extra weird against this mechanical straight computer. Back and forth with a sax and flute, in a sort of funk Postal Service. They might not be nervous but these jittery rhythms certainly are. Chris has a high wavery delivery, something like a smooth Mark Mothersbaugh, delivered clear and rapid fire into the mic. Almost a staccato hip hop delivery, but again these guys are working on another level of extreme combinations and ending up with something that you aren't going to ever come across again. Synth breakdown for everything to pile on, all at their own just barely interlocking tempo's. Nuts.
The first track down here is "I'm not lazy", this embed is from a different album but the song is the same. Get this handsome hand screened matte ink package with black vinyl from Memetic Society. I'm pretty sure that's a real maze on the cover there and it will take you days.
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